| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate. | 1"Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered. |
| 2Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams. | 2Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams! |
| 3Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one." | 3Let your private parts be exposed! Your genitals will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone," |
| 4Our Redeemer--the LORD Almighty is his name-- is the Holy One of Israel. | 4says our protector--the LORD who commands armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 5"Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms. | 5"Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called 'Queen of kingdoms.' |
| 6I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke. | 6I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. |
| 7You said, 'I am forever-- the eternal queen!' But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. | 7You said, 'I will rule forever as permanent queen!' You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out. |
| 8"Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, 'I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.' | 8So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.' |
| 9Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. | 9Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets. |
| 10You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, 'I am, and there is none besides me.' | 10You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, 'No one sees me.' Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me!' |
| 11Disaster 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 come upon you. | 11Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. |
| 12"Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror. | 12Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful--maybe you will scare away disaster. |
| 13All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. | 13You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand--the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions--let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! |
| 14Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by. | 14Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. |
| 15That is all they are to you-- these you have dealt with and labored with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you. | 15They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you." |
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