Yesaya 47:6-9

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy; ¹ 

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ² 

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ³ 

You did not think about these things; ⁴ 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ⁵ 

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ⁶ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ⁷ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ⁸ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ⁹ 

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ¹⁰ 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ¹¹ 

despite ¹²  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ¹³ 

[47:6]  ¹ tn Or “compassion.”

[47:6]  ² tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

[47:7]  ³ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[47:8]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

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

[47:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[47:9]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ¹² tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ¹³ 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.