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Isaiah 47 from Scroll 1Q Isaiaha

“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.

Take the millstones, and grind flour.

Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs,

and wade through the rivers.

Your nakedness will be uncovered.

Yes, your shame will be seen.

I will take vengeance,

and will spare no one.”

 

Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name,

is the Holy One of Israel.

 

“Sit in silence, and go into darkness,

daughter of the Chaldeans.

For you shall no longer be called

the mistress of kingdoms.

I 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.

You said, ‘I will be a princess forever;’

so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart,

nor did you remember the results.

 

“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 shall not sit as a widow,

neither shall I know the loss of children.’

But these two things shall 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.

10 For 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.’

11 Therefore disaster will come on you.

And 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 So stand now with your enchantments,

and with the multitude of your sorceries,

in which you [1] have labored from your youth;

as if you might profit;

as if you might prevail. and until this day.

13 You are wearied in According to 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 come on you them.

14 Behold, 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.

15 The 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.

 

Isaiah 47 from Scroll 1Q Isaiahb

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.

Take the millstones, and grind flour.

Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs,

and wade through the rivers.

Your nakedness will be uncovered.

Yes, your shame will be seen.

I will take vengeance,

and will spare no one.”

 

Our Redeemer, Yahweh 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.

I 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.

7 You said, ‘I will be a princess forever;’

so that you did not lay these things to your heart,

nor did you I 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 shall not sit as a widow,

neither shall I know the loss of children.’

But these two things shall 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.

10 For 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.’

11 Therefore 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.

13 You 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 come on you.

14 Behold, 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.

 

Isaiah 47 from Scroll 4Q58 Isaiahd

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.

2 Take the millstones, and grind flour.

Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs,

and wade through the rivers.

3 Your nakedness will be uncovered.

Yes, your shame will be seen.

I will take vengeance,

and will spare no one.”

 

4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh 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.

6 I 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.

[..]

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 shall not sit as a widow,

neither shall I know the loss of children.’

9 But these two things shall 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.

 



[1] In this verse and a number of other places in the scroll, “you” seems to read “I,” but this change doesn’t make sense in the context. It is likely that the differences (a one letter difference in Hebrew) are due to some variation in spelling practice at the time the scroll was copied rather than an actual change between first and second person.

How to read these pages:

      The translation to the left is based on the World English Bible. Words in regular black font are words in the scrolls matching the traditional text for that passage.

      Words in italics cannot be seen in the scroll, since the scroll is fragmentary. These words are supplied for readability by the World English Bible translation.

      Words present in the scroll but with some letters unreadable or missing are in blue like this: blue. One Hebrew word often is translated into multiple English words, and when this occurs, all the English words are in blue.

      Words present in the scroll but with spelling differences that do not affect the meaning are in green like this: green. This is common in Hebrew.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the traditional text that are missing from the text of the scroll are marked through in red like this: strike-through.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the scroll that are not in the traditional text are underlined in red like this: new words.