Isaiah
Sit down on the ground where there is no throne,+
O daughter of the Chal·deʹans,
For never again will people call you delicate and pampered.
2 Take a hand mill and grind flour.
Remove your veil.
Strip off your skirt, uncover your legs.
Cross over the rivers.
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered.
Your shame will be exposed.
I will take vengeance,+ and no man will stand in my way.*
6 I grew indignant at my people.+
But you showed them no mercy.+
Even on the elderly you placed a heavy yoke.+
7 You said: “I will always be the Mistress,* forever.”+
You did not take these things to heart;
You did not consider how the matter would end.
“I am the one, and there is no one else.+
I will not become a widow.
I will never know the loss of children.”+
9 But these two things will come upon you suddenly, in one day:+
Loss of children and widowhood.
In full measure they will come upon you+
Because of* your many sorceries and all your powerful spells.+
10 You trusted in your wickedness.
You said: “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and knowledge are what led you astray,
And you say in your heart: “I am the one, and there is no one else.”
Adversity will befall you; you will not be able to avert it.
Sudden ruin will come upon you like you have never known.+
12 Go ahead, then, with your spells and your many sorceries,+
With which you have toiled from your youth.
Perhaps you may be able to benefit;
Perhaps you may strike people with awe.
13 You have grown weary with the multitude of your advisers.
Let them stand up now and save you,
Those who worship the heavens,* who gaze at the stars,+
Those giving out knowledge at the new moons
About the things that will come upon you.
14 Look! They are like stubble.
A fire will burn them up.
They cannot save themselves* from the power of the flame.
These are not charcoals for keeping warm,
And this is not a fire to sit in front of.
15 So your charmers will become to you,
Those with whom you toiled from your youth.
They will wander, each one in his own direction.*
There will be no one to save you.+