Babylon Degraded and Punished
1Get down, sit in the dust,
Fair Maiden Babylon;
Sit, dethroned, on the ground,
O Fair Chaldea;
Nevermore shall they call you
The tender and dainty one.
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2Grasp the handmill and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Strip off your train, bare your leg,
Wade through the rivers.
3Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
And your shame shall be exposed.
I will take vengeance, [ . . . ].
5Sit silent; retire into darkness,
O Fair Chaldea;
Nevermore shall they call you
Mistress of Kingdoms.
6I was angry at My people,
I defiled My heritage;
I put them into your hands,
But you showed them no mercy.
Even upon the aged you made
Your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7You thought, “I shall always be
The mistress still.” [ . . . ]
12Stand up, with your spells and your many enchantments
On which you labored since youth!
Perhaps you’ll be able to profit,
Perhaps you will find strength.
13You are helpless, despite all your art.
Let them stand up and help you now,
The scanners of heaven, the star-gazers,
Who announce, month by month,
Whatever will come upon you.
14See, they are become like straw,
Fire consumes them;
They cannot save themselves
From the power of the flame; [ . . . ].
15[ . . . ] There is none to save you.
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Credits
Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
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