Sit on the ground, not on a throne, princess of the Babylonians!

You will no longer be called soft and delicate.

2 Take millstones and grind flour.

Remove your veil.

Take off your skirt.

Uncover your legs, and cross the river.

3 People will see you naked.

People will see your shame.

I will take revenge.

I won't spare anyone.

4 Our Go'el is Qedosh Yisrael .

His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth .

5 Go into the dark, and sit in silence, princess of the Babylonians!

You will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.

6 I was angry with my people.

I dishonored those who belong to me.

I put them under your control.

You showed them no mercy.

You placed a heavy burden on old people.

7 You said, "I will always be a queen."

You didn't carefully consider these things or keep in mind how they would end.

8 Now then, listen to this, you lover of pleasure.

You live securely and say to yourself, "I'm the only one, and there's no one else.

I won't live as a widow.

I won't suffer the loss of children."

9 In one day both of these will happen to you instantly: the loss of your children and your husband.

All this will happen to you in spite of your evil magic and your many spells.

10 You feel safe in your wickedness and say, "No one can see me."

Your wisdom and knowledge have led you astray, so you say to yourself, "I'm the only one, and there's no one else."

11 But evil will happen to you.

You won't know how to keep it away.

Disaster will strike you.

You won't be able to stop it.

Destruction will overtake you suddenly.

You won't expect it.

12 Keep practicing your spells and your evil magic.

You have practiced them ever since you were young.

You may succeed.

You may cause terror.

13 You are worn out by your many plans.

Let your astrologers and your stargazers, who foretell the future month by month, come to you, rise up, and save you.

14 They are like straw.

Fire burns them.

They can't rescue themselves from the flames.

There are no glowing coals to keep them warm and no fire for them to sit by.

15 This is how it will be for those who have worked with you, for those who have been with you ever since you were young.

They will go their own ways, and there will be no one to save you.

The LORD Will Refine His People Before He Rescues Them from Babylon 48 1 Listen to this, descendants of Jacob!

You are given the name of Israel.

You are descended from Judah.a You take oaths by the name of Yahweh.

You acknowledge the Elohim of Israel, but you are not honest or sincere.

2 You call yourselves citizens of the holy city.

You depend on the Elohim of Israel.

His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth .

3 From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen.

These words came out of my mouth, and I made them known.

Suddenly, I acted, and they happened.

4 I know that you are stubborn.

Like iron, you are hardheaded.

Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull.

5 That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago.

I told you about them before they happened.

I did this so you couldn't say, "My gods have done these things.

My carved idols and my metal idols have commanded them to happen."

6 You've heard these words.

Now look at all this.

Won't you admit it?

From now on I will reveal to you new things, hidden things that you do not know.

7 They are created now, not in the past.

You haven't heard about them before today, so you can't say that you already knew about them.

8 You have never heard about them.

You have never known about them.

Your ears have never been open to hear them before.

I know that you've acted very treacherously and that you have been called a rebel since you were born.

9 For my name's sake I'll be patient.

For my glory's sake I'll hold my anger back from you, rather than destroy you.

10 I have refined you, but not like silver.

I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.

11 I am doing this for myself, only for myself.

Why should my name be dishonored?

I will not give my glory to anyone else.

12 Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called.

I am the one.

I am the first and the last.

13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth.

My right hand stretched out the heavens.

When I call for them, they both stand.

14 Gather together, all of you, and listen.

What idol has revealed such things?

Yahweh loves Cyrus.

He will carry out Yahweh's plan against Babylon.

He will use his strength against the Babylonians.

15 I alone have spoken.

I have called him.

I will bring him here, and he will succeed.

16 Come here. Listen to this: From the beginning I have spoken nothing in private.

From the time it took place, I was there.

Now Adonay Yahweh has sent me and his Ruach .

17 This is what Yahweh, your Go'el , Qedosh Yisrael , says: I am Yahweh your Elohim .

I teach you what is best for you.