The Humiliation of Babylon

1Come down and sit upon the dust, thou virgin daughter of Babel, sit upon the earth: no throne, thou daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt not be added for them to call thee tender and delicate.

2Take the two mill-stones and grind flour, and uncover thy veil; strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.

3Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, also thy reproach shall be seen: I will take vengeance, I will not make peace with man.

4Jehovah of armies redeemed us, his name the Holy One of Israel.

5Sit thou silently and go into darkness, thou daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be added for them to call thee The mistress of kingdoms.

6I was angry against my people; I defiled my inheritances, and I will give them into thine hand, and thou didst not set mercy to them; upon the old thou didst make heavy thy yoke greatly.

7And thou wilt say, I shall be mistress forever: till thou didst not set these upon thy heart, thou didst not remember its last part.

8And now hear this, thou living delicately, dwelling securely, saying in her heart, I, and none besides me; I shall not sit a widow, and I shall not know bereavement.

9And these two shall come to thee suddenly, in one day, bereavement and widowhood: as finished they came upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and in the great numbers of thy enchantments.

10And thou wilt trust in thy wickedness: thou saidst, None saw me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it caused thee to turn away; and thou wilt say in thy heart, I, and none yet besides me.

11And evil came upon thee; thou shalt not know its dawn, and ruin shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to expiate it, and desolation shall suddenly come upon thee; thou shalt not know.

12Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries in which thou didst labor from thy youth; perhaps thou wilt be able to be of use, perhaps thou wilt cause fear.

13Thou wert wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Shall those searching out the heavens, those looking upon the stars, causing to know concerning the months, now stand and save thee from what shall come upon thee?

14Behold, they were as straw; the fire burnt them; they shall not deliver their soul from the hand of the flame: not a coal for warming, light to sit before it.

15Thus shall they be to thee for whom thou didst labor, thy merchants, from thy youth; they wandered a man to his other side; none saving thee.