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Isaiah 47:1-15

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Isaiah 47:1 is part of this passage.
1“Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called tender and delicate. 2Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs, and wade through the rivers. 3Your nakedness will be uncovered. Yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance, and will spare no one.” 4Our Redeemer, the LORD of Armies is his name, is the Holy One of Israel. 5“Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you shall no longer be called the mistress of kingdoms. 6I was angry with my people. I profaned my inheritance and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy. You laid a very heavy yoke on the aged. 7You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’ so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the results. 8“Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me. I won’t sit as a widow, neither will I know the loss of children.’ 9But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day: the loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in their full measure, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments. 10For you have trusted in your wickedness. You have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge has perverted you. You have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’ 11Therefore disaster will come on you. You won’t know when it dawns. Mischief will fall on you. You won’t be able to put it away. Desolation will come on you suddenly, which you don’t understand. 12“Stand now with your enchantments and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth, as if you might profit, as if you might prevail. 13You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from the things that will happen to you. 14Behold, they are like stubble. The fire will burn them. They won’t deliver themselves from the power of the flame. It won’t be a coal to warm at or a fire to sit by. 15The things that you labored in will be like this: those who have trafficked with you from your youth will each wander in his own way. There will be no one to save you.

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Summary

This passage presents Babylon brought down and shows how the LORD addresses his people and the nations.

Interpretation

In Isaiah 47:1-15, Isaiah develops Babylon brought down. The unit's images and movement—especially virgin, daughter, babylon—belong to a prophetic argument rather than detached religious sayings. Isaiah speaks to people facing political threat, moral failure, exile, or hope, asking readers to see ordinary events under the authority of the LORD. Its contrasts keep judgment and promise in view.

Theologically, this passage shows that the LORD is not one power among many. He judges pride and empty worship, yet preserves a remnant, gathers the scattered, and makes a future where covenant faithfulness can flourish. Its language may be poetic or shaped by a particular oracle, but its moral center is clear: trust in God must join justice, humility, and attentive obedience. Hope never excuses oppression, and judgment is never the whole story.

Within Isaiah's larger book, this unit participates in movement from rebellion through purification toward restoration. Read it alongside the prophet's insistence that God cares for the poor, foreigner, afflicted, and integrity of worship. Christian readers can hear it in continuity with God's saving work in Christ and the Spirit while respecting its historical setting and promise to Israel. Canonical fulfillment deepens the text; it does not erase its first hearers.

For readers today, the passage invites a response shaped by Babylon brought down. Bring fear, ambition, grief, or guilt into God's presence instead of hiding behind appearances. Practice justice and mercy, receive hope without demanding an easy timetable, and let God's future correct powers that claim to be ultimate. Isaiah forms a people who remain faithful because the LORD is faithful across generations.

The unit therefore calls for discernment rather than slogan-making. Read its warning with humility, its promise with patience, and its vision of God with reverence. Faithful response may mean confession, waiting, resistance to unjust power, or practical care for a neighbor. In every case, the passage directs attention away from self-made security toward the covenant Lord who judges truly and restores generously.

Context

Isaiah 47 belongs to the prophetic collection's treatment of Babylon brought down.

Luxury, sorcery, and cruelty cannot protect the proud imperial city.

The WEB wording is retained; prophetic poetry uses images, royal language, and covenant motifs that should be read in literary setting.

Audience

Readers seeking faithful hope, honest repentance, justice, and confidence in the LORD amid judgment and restoration.

Themes

  • humility
  • judgment
  • justice

Related passages

Keywords

humility · judgment · justice · virgin · daughter · babylon · ground