Yesaya 22:12-14

22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,

for shaved heads and sackcloth. ¹ 

22:13 But look, there is outright celebration! ² 

You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,

eat meat and drink wine.

Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ³ 

22:14 The Lord who commands armies told me this: ⁴  “Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live,” ⁵  says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

Yesaya 47:1-2

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin ⁶  daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ⁷  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!

Remove your veil,

strip off your skirt,

expose your legs,

cross the streams!

Yesaya 47:7-9

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ⁸ 

You did not think about these things; ⁹ 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ¹⁰ 

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹¹ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ¹² 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ¹³ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ¹⁴ 

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ¹⁵ 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ¹⁶ 

despite ¹⁷  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ¹⁸ 

[22:12]  ¹ tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.

[22:13]  ² tn Heb “happiness and joy.”

[22:13]  ³ tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.

[22:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “it was revealed in my ears [by?] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”

[22:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “Certainly this sin will not be atoned for until you die.” This does not imply that their death will bring atonement; rather it emphasizes that their sin is unpardonable. The statement has the form of an oath.

[47:1]  ⁶ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

[47:1]  ⁷ tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[47:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[47:8]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ¹² tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[47:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ¹⁷ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ¹⁸ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.