Read the Bible

Lament for Babylon

¹ "^(C1)Come down and sit in the dust,
O ^(C2)virgin ^(C3)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground in abject humiliation; there is no throne for you,
O daughter of the ^(F1)Chaldeans,
For you will no longer be called ^(C4)tender and delicate.

² "Take ^(C1)millstones as a female slave does and ^(C2)grind meal;
Remove your ^(C3)veil, ^(C4)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers at the command of your captors.

³ "Your ^(C1)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will ^(C2)take vengeance and will spare no man."

⁴ Our ^(C1)Redeemer will do all this, the LORD of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.

⁵ "^(C1)Sit in silence, and go into ^(C2)darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The ^(C3)queen of ^(C4)kingdoms.

⁶ "I was angry with My people,
I profaned Judah My inheritance
And gave them into your hand Babylon.
You showed them no mercy;
You made your yoke very heavy on the ^(C1)aged.

⁷ "And you said, 'I shall be a ^(C1)queen forevermore.'
You did not ^(C2)consider these things,
Nor did you seriously remember the ultimate ^(C3)outcome of such conduct.

⁸ "Now, then, hear this, you who ^(C1)live a luxuriant life,
You who ^(C2)dwell safely and securely,
Who say in your heart (mind),
'^(C3)I am the queen, and there is no one besides me.
I shall ^(C4)not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.'

⁹ "But these ^(C1)two things shall come to you ^(C2)abruptly, in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many claims of power through your ^(C3)sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your enchantments. ^(VR1)

¹⁰ "For you Babylon have ^(C1)trusted and felt confident in your wickedness; you have said,
'^(C2)No one sees me.'
Your ^(C3)wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray,
And you have said in your heart (mind),
'^(C4)I am, and there is no one besides me.'

¹¹ "Therefore ^(C1)disaster will come on you;
You will not know how to make it disappear with your magic.
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone with all your offerings to your gods;
And ^(C2)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you ^(C3)suddenly.

¹² "Persist, then, Babylon in your ^(C1)enchantments
And your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit from them,
Perhaps you may prevail and cause trembling.

¹³ "You ^(F1)are ^(C1)wearied by your many counsels.
Just let the ^(C2)astrologers,
The stargazers,
Those who predict by the new moons each month
Stand up and ^(C3)save you from the things that will come upon you Babylon.

¹⁴ "In fact, they are ^(C1)like stubble;
^(C2)Fire burns them.
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame much less save the nation,
There is ^(C3)no blazing coal for warming
Nor fire before which to sit!

¹⁵ "This is how they have become to you, those astrologers and sorcerers with whom you have labored,
Those who have ^(C1)done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own way.
^(C2)There is no one to save you.