Isa 47, Hab 2:5-20, Rev 18 | ESV | STEP | Come down and sit in the dust , O virgin daughter of Babylon ; sit on the ground without a throne , O daughter of the Chaldeans ! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate .

1 ^aCome down and sit in the dust,
O virgin ^bdaughter of Babylon;
^csit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of ^dthe Chaldeans!
^eFor you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and ^fgrind flour,
^gput off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.
4 ^hOur Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
5 ⁱSit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of ^jthe Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
^kthe mistress of kingdoms.
6 ^lI was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
^myou showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7 You said, “I shall be ⁿmistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
8 Now therefore hear this, ^oyou lover of pleasures,
^pwho sit securely,
who say in your heart,
^q“I am, and there is no one besides me;
^rI shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
9 ^sThese two things shall come to you
in a moment, ^tin one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
^uin spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
^v“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
^wand ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
12 ^xStand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.
13 You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
^ythose who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, ^zthey are like stubble;
^aathe fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.

Habakkuk 2:5-20

5 “Moreover, wine ^{▼▼Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth} is ^aca traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain}
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death ^aehe has never enough.
^afHe gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

6 Shall not all these ^agtake up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

^ah“Woe to him ^aiwho heaps up what is not his own—
for ^ajhow long?—
and ^akloads himself with pledges!”
7 ^alWill not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 ^amBecause you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^anfor the blood of man and ^aoviolence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 ^ap“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
^aqto ^arset his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
^asby cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For ^atthe stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 ^au“Woe to him ^avwho builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that ^awpeoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 ^axFor the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of ^aythe glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 ^az“Woe to him ^bawho makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze ^bbat their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill ^bcof shame instead of glory.
^bdDrink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^beThe cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and ^bfutter shame will come upon your glory!
17 ^bgThe violence ^bhdone to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^bifor the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 ^bj“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, ^bka teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes ^blspeechless idols!
19 ^bmWoe to him ^bnwho says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and ^bothere is no breath at all in it.
20 But ^bpthe Lord is in his holy temple;
^bqlet all the earth keep silence before him.”

Revelation of John 18

The Fall of Babylon

1 After this I saw ^branother angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^bsthe earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,

^bt“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become ^bua dwelling place for demons,
a haunt ^bvfor every unclean spirit,
a haunt ^bwfor every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk ^{▼▼Some manuscripts fallen by}
^bythe wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and ^bzthe kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and ^cathe merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

^cb“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
5 for ^ccher sins are heaped high as heaven,
and ^cdGod has remembered her iniquities.
6 ^cePay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her ^cfdouble for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her ^cgin the cup she mixed.
7 ^chAs she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
^ci‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come ^cjin a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and ^ckshe will be burned up with fire;
for ^clmighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
9 And ^cmthe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^cnwill weep and wail over her ^cowhen they see the smoke of her burning. 10 ^cpThey will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas! Alas! ^cqYou great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For ^crin a single hour your judgment has come.”
11 And ^csthe merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. ^{▼▼Or and slaves, and human lives}

14 “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
15 ^cuThe merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^cvwill stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16 “Alas, alas, for the great city
^cwthat was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For ^cxin a single hour all this wealth ^cyhas been laid waste.”
And ^czall shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and ^dacried out ^dbas they saw the smoke of her burning,

^dc“What city was like the great city?”
19 And they threw ^dddust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, for the great city
^dewhere all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For ^dfin a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 ^dgRejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and ^dhapostles and prophets,
for ^diGod has given judgment for you against her!”
21 Then ^dja mighty angel ^dktook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“So will Babylon ^dlthe great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
22 and ^dmthe sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and ^dnthe sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and ^dothe voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for ^dpyour merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived ^dqby your sorcery.
24 And ^drin her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of ^dsall who have been slain on earth.”