Study Desk

"Go down, sit in the dust,^(a) Virgin Daughter^(b) Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians.^[a](c) No more will you be called tender or delicate.^(d)

Take millstones^(e) and grind^(f) flour; take off your veil.^(g) Lift up your skirts,^(h) bare your legs, and wade through the streams.

Your nakedness⁽ⁱ⁾ will be exposed and your shame^(j) uncovered. I will take vengeance;^(k) I will spare no one.^(l)"

Our Redeemer^(m)—the Lord Almighty⁽ⁿ⁾ is his name^(o)— is the Holy One^(p) of Israel.

"Sit in silence,^(q) go into darkness,^(r) queen city of the Babylonians;^(s) no more will you be called queen^(t) of kingdoms.^(u)

I was angry^(v) with my people and desecrated my inheritance;^(w) I gave them into your hand,^(x) and you showed them no mercy.^(y) Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.

You said, ‘I am forever^(z)— the eternal queen!'^(aa) But you did not consider these things or reflect^(ab) on what might happen.^(ac)

"Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security^(ad) and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.^(ae) I will never be a widow^(af) or suffer the loss of children.'

Both of these will overtake you in a moment,^(ag) on a single day: loss of children^(ah) and widowhood.^(ai) They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries^(aj) and all your potent spells.^(ak)

You have trusted^(al) in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.'^(am) Your wisdom^(an) and knowledge mislead^(ao) you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.'

Disaster^(ap) will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly^(aq) come upon you.

"Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries,^(ar) which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.

All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(as) Let your astrologers^(at) come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save^(au) you from what is coming upon you.

Surely they are like stubble;^(av) the fire^(aw) will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame.^(ax) These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by.

That is all they are to you— these you have dealt with and labored^(ay) with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save^(az) you.

"Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel^(a) and come from the line of Judah,^(b) you who take oaths^(c) in the name of the Lord ^(d) and invoke^(e) the God of Israel— but not in truth^(f) or righteousness—

you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city^(g) and claim to rely^(h) on the God of Israel— the Lord Almighty is his name:⁽ⁱ⁾

I foretold the former things^(j) long ago, my mouth announced^(k) them and I made them known; then suddenly^(l) I acted, and they came to pass.

For I knew how stubborn^(m) you were; your neck muscles⁽ⁿ⁾ were iron, your forehead^(o) was bronze.

Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced^(p) them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about;^(q) my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'

You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? "From now on I will tell you of new things,^(r) of hidden things unknown to you.

They are created^(s) now, and not long ago;^(t) you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew^(u) of them.'

You have neither heard nor understood;^(v) from of old your ears^(w) have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous^(x) you are; you were called a rebel^(y) from birth.

For my own name's sake^(z) I delay my wrath;^(aa) for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely.^(ab)

See, I have refined^(ac) you, though not as silver; I have tested^(ad) you in the furnace^(ae) of affliction.

For my own sake,^(af) for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed?^(ag) I will not yield my glory to another.^(ah)

"Listen^(ai) to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called:^(aj) I am he;^(ak) I am the first and I am the last.^(al)

My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,^(am) and my right hand spread out the heavens;^(an) when I summon them, they all stand up together.^(ao)

"Come together,^(ap) all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold^(aq) these things? The Lord 's chosen ally^(ar) will carry out his purpose^(as) against Babylon;^(at) his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[a]

I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called^(au) him. I will bring him, and he will succeed^(av) in his mission.

"Come near^(aw) me and listen^(ax) to this: "From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(ay) at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign Lord ^(az) has sent^(ba) me, endowed with his Spirit.^(bb)

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer,^(bc) the Holy One^(bd) of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches^(be) you what is best for you, who directs^(bf) you in the way^(bg) you should go.

If only you had paid attention^(bh) to my commands, your peace^(bi) would have been like a river,^(bj) your well-being^(bk) like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants^(bl) would have been like the sand,^(bm) your children like its numberless grains;^(bn) their name would never be blotted out^(bo) nor destroyed from before me."

Leave Babylon, flee^(bp) from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy^(bq) and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(br) say, "The Lord has redeemed^(bs) his servant Jacob."

They did not thirst^(bt) when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow^(bu) for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out.^(bv)

"There is no peace,"^(bw) says the Lord , "for the wicked."^(bx)

Listen^(a) to me, you islands;^(b) hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born^(c) the Lord called^(d) me; from my mother's womb he has spoken my name.^(e)

He made my mouth^(f) like a sharpened sword,^(g) in the shadow of his hand^(h) he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow⁽ⁱ⁾ and concealed me in his quiver.

He said to me, "You are my servant,^(j) Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.^(k)"

But I said, "I have labored in vain;^(l) I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord 's hand,^(m) and my reward⁽ⁿ⁾ is with my God."^(o)

And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb^(p) to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel^(q) to himself, for I am^[a] honored^(r) in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength^(s)—

he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(t) to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(u) I will also make you a light^(v) for the Gentiles,^(w) that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."^(x)

This is what the Lord says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(y)— to him who was despised^(z) and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings^(aa) will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down,^(ab) because of the Lord , who is faithful,^(ac) the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(ad) you."

This is what the Lord says: "In the time of my favor^(ae) I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(af) I will keep^(ag) you and will make you to be a covenant for the people,^(ah) to restore the land^(ai) and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(aj)

to say to the captives,^(ak) ‘Come out,' and to those in darkness,^(al) ‘Be free!' "They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.^(am)

They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(an) nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(ao) He who has compassion^(ap) on them will guide^(aq) them and lead them beside springs^(ar) of water.

I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways^(as) will be raised up.^(at)

See, they will come from afar^(au)— some from the north, some from the west,^(av) some from the region of Aswan.^[b]"

Shout for joy,^(aw) you heavens; rejoice, you earth;^(ax) burst into song, you mountains!^(ay) For the Lord comforts^(az) his people and will have compassion^(ba) on his afflicted ones.^(bb)

But Zion^(bc) said, "The Lord has forsaken^(bd) me, the Lord has forgotten me."

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child^(be) she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!^(bf)

See, I have engraved^(bg) you on the palms of my hands; your walls^(bh) are ever before me.

Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste^(bi) depart from you.

Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather^(bj) and come to you. As surely as I live,^(bk)" declares the Lord , "you will wear^(bl) them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

"Though you were ruined and made desolate^(bm) and your land laid waste,^(bn) now you will be too small for your people,^(bo) and those who devoured^(bp) you will be far away.

The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.'^(bq)

Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these?^(br) I was bereaved^(bs) and barren; I was exiled and rejected.^(bt) Who brought these^(bu) up? I was left^(bv) all alone,^(bw) but these—where have they come from?'"

This is what the Sovereign Lord ^(bx) says: "See, I will beckon to the nations, I will lift up my banner^(by) to the peoples; they will bring^(bz) your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips.^(ca)

Kings^(cb) will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.^(cc) They will bow down^(cd) before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust^(ce) at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord ;^(cf) those who hope^(cg) in me will not be disappointed.^(ch)"

Can plunder be taken from warriors,^(ci) or captives be rescued from the fierce^[c]?

But this is what the Lord says: "Yes, captives^(cj) will be taken from warriors,^(ck) and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(cl) I will contend with those who contend with you,^(cm) and your children I will save.^(cn)

I will make your oppressors^(co) eat^(cp) their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood,^(cq) as with wine. Then all mankind will know^(cr) that I, the Lord , am your Savior,^(cs) your Redeemer,^(ct) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(cu)"