1 COME down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter [ Hebrew term for "virgin" is equally applicable to a "young woman"-helpless and particularly vulnerable condition of young unmarried women in times of war; "virgin" as being indicative of being unconquered. ] of Babylon, ["Babylon" here takes on the shape of not a specific political nation or ethnic group, but rather a culturally normative group of people who engage in the behaviors presented. ] sit on the ground: there is no throne [ where Babylon used to sit on a throne, surrounded by luxuries,a ruler so to speak of the kingdom ] , O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. [ tender and delicate because of her previous pampered state. where she used to have servants she now must be the servant. she is stropped of her objects, stropped of her finery and power. ]

2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. [ a reference to being exported into captivity to foreign nations. Rivers commonly form political boundaries, so when one goes into exile or foreign captivity one will probably have to cross rivers on forced march. Which implies wading through them. ]

3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. [ probably has reference to the events in v. 9-12 where the Lord will ignore their astrology and magical arts. This is indicative of the Lord's unwillingness to spare the wicked, as well as the complete lack of an intercessor on Babylon's behalf (as Israel has had numerous intercessors after the example of Moses, e.g., Judges). The Lord provided Israel with Judges because of the covenant relationship. As Babylon has no covenant relationship with the Lord, they have no hope of His providing an intercessor. In fact, this text suggests He is going out of the way to be sure they cannot have one.]

4 As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, [ where Babylon was once the great center of attention, wealth and admiration of the world. She is now dark, ignored, poor and unwanted. ] O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

6 ¶ I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

7 ¶ And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.

8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; [ Babylons behavious imply that she is arrogant, self-indulgent, I am the greatest, hung up on herself, complacent, - noting the contrast between them and the Lord - "I Am" ] I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, [ in a very short time ] the loss of children, and widowhood: [ thus no support or protection With the destruction of the wicked on the Day of the Lord, Babylon will be left without remnant, a childless widow. For other references to bereavement and widowhood in Isaiah, cp. 3:16-4:6, 22:1-3, 32:6-12. ] they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

10 ¶ For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, [ reference to various mystical arts of divination, prognostication and astrology. ] it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.

11 ¶ Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; [ does this imply that they have done it through imaturity, the follies of youth, in a young or unknowing state. or they acted as children ] if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.

13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. [ This is probably the first occasion in world-history when the way of making power absolute was not conceived in material terms such as armies, armaments, and financial resources, but in terms of the intellectual substructures of power. The literature of the neo-Babylonian empire furnishes us with knowledge of the diversity and profusion of Mesopotamia's intellectual and religious life during the period to let us understand this. [Isaiah] mentions sorceries, enchantments, expiatory rites, and astrology. Nowadays we are prejudiced against all this...however the extant documents from Mesopotamia give us some idea of the immense intellectual efforts expended both to influence the present by means of a plethora of magical formulae, and to safeguard the future, or control it to one's advantage, by means of a whole body of knowledge devoted to prediction, and, in particular, to astrology. As we know, the widespread preoccupation with astrology also led to very considerable knowledge in astronomy."

Now, compare this with 2 Ne. 9:27-29. ]

14 Behold, they shall be as ^astubble; [ your astrologers and stargazers are worthless like stubble. When the head of the grain or fruit is removed the (straw) stubble has lost its value to the world or in otherwords - it is now in a very humble state, no way to improve, no more growth - no use to man (Humbled) the only choice is how fast and in what way it is left to decompose.

Looking at this from an Eternal perspective - The head of the grain has been removed there is no way for them to continue to grow, have posterity - they are stopped in their state eternally (hence the burning or yearning for eternal growth, posterity) ]

the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves [demonstrates how powerless the astrologers and stargazers really are as they will not see it coming in time to protect themselves let alone anyone else. As opposed to the covenant people who are watching the signs of the times - they will know of his coming.] from the power of the flame: [ an indication of how hot the blaze will be. It is not a comfortable fire that the can warm by the coals, but rather one that burns everything ] there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: [ this is a reference to verse 12. These are those that have studied and became good at astrology, prognostication and divination ] they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.