Isaiah 47:11 kjv
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.
Isaiah 47:11 nkjv
Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, Which you shall not know.
Isaiah 47:11 niv
Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.
Isaiah 47:11 esv
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; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.
Isaiah 47:11 nlt
So disaster will overtake you,
and you won't be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
and you won't be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
one for which you are not prepared.
Isaiah 47 11 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 35:8 | "...let destruction come upon him suddenly; let him fall into that very destruction." | God's judgment is certain and can be sudden. |
| Prov 11:21 | "Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered." | No escape from divine justice for the wicked. |
| Jer 50:44 | "I will suddenly make them run away from her." | God brings sudden judgment and dispels enemies. |
| Jer 49:19 | "Who is the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? Who can defy me?" | God's unchallengeable power and sovereignty. |
| Job 9:4 | "Who has defied him and come out unscathed?" | God's might makes resistance futile. |
| Heb 12:29 | "For indeed our God is a consuming fire." | God's judgment is destructive and consuming. |
| 1 Thess 5:3 | "While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly..." | Unexpected ruin for the unprepared. |
| Ps 73:19 | "How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!" | Swift and overwhelming demise of the wicked. |
| Prov 29:1 | "He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing." | Stubborn pride leads to sudden, irreparable ruin. |
| Job 21:13 | "They spend their days in prosperity, and suddenly go down to the grave." | The swift and unexpected end of wicked prosperity. |
| Mal 4:1 | "...all who do wickedly will be stubble; the day that is coming will set them on fire..." | Final, swift, and consuming judgment. |
| Isa 29:14 | "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish..." | God renders human wisdom and understanding useless. |
| 1 Cor 1:19 | "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." | Worldly wisdom is futile against God. |
| Job 5:12 | "He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success." | God frustrates and negates evil schemes. |
| Ps 33:10 | "The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples." | Human plans are rendered useless by divine will. |
| Lam 3:38 | "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?" | God is sovereign over all good and calamity. |
| Amos 3:6 | "Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has sent it?" | God orchestrates and sends calamity. |
| Jer 51:6 | "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins." | Babylon's imminent and unavoidable fall. |
| Rev 18:7-8 | "In her heart she boasts, 'I sit enthroned as queen...' Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her..." | Echoes Babylon's pride and sudden, inevitable fall. |
| Dan 5:30 | "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain." | The historical fulfillment of Babylon's swift and unexpected end. |
| Deut 18:10-12 | "...anyone who practices divination...God detests these practices." | Condemns forbidden occult practices, showing their ultimate powerlessness. |
Isaiah 47 verses
Isaiah 47 11 Meaning
Isaiah 47:11 pronounces inescapable, multifaceted, and unexpected judgment upon Babylon, directly contrasting with her belief in self-sufficiency and the perceived power of her sorceries and knowledge. The verse declares that a sequence of calamities—disaster, ruin, and utter devastation—will befall her. Crucially, she will be powerless to anticipate their source, prevent their coming, or ward them off. Their arrival will be sudden and unforeseen, rendering all her presumed wisdom and magical arts completely useless against divine decree.
Isaiah 47 11 Context
Isaiah chapter 47 is a "taunt song" or a lament over the anticipated downfall of Babylon, depicted as a proud, ruthless, and arrogant "virgin daughter." Throughout the chapter, God announces her humiliating descent from power and luxury to servitude. The chapter highlights Babylon's excessive cruelty towards Judah (e.g., "showed them no mercy," v. 6), her confident boast of eternal sovereignty ("I am, and there is none besides me," v. 8, 10), and her deep reliance on sorcery, enchantments, and astrological prognostication (vv. 12-13). Verse 11 is a direct challenge to this self-assured pride and the perceived efficacy of her occult practices, serving as a climactic pronouncement of inescapable judgment against her. Historically, this prophecy would be fulfilled by the Medo-Persian empire under Cyrus, an event unforeseen by Babylon's own astrologers, as recorded in the book of Daniel.
Isaiah 47 11 Word analysis
- Therefore (לָכֵן, lakēn): Connects Babylon's preceding pride and cruelty (v. 8-10) to the ensuing divine judgment. It signifies a direct, logical consequence.
- shall evil (רָעָה, ra'ah): Refers here to calamity, disaster, or severe misfortune, a destructive outcome of her actions.
- come upon thee: Declares absolute certainty; the judgment is irrevocably directed at Babylon.
- thou shalt not know (לֹא תֵדְעִי, lō' tēd'î): Highlights profound ignorance and lack of foresight regarding the impending disaster.
- from whence it riseth (מִנּוּ סֻתָּר, minnū sutār): Literally "from where it is covered/hidden." Signifies the hidden, unforeseen origin and nature of the calamity. Babylon's seers will fail to predict its advent.
- and mischief (הוָּה, howah): Another strong term for disaster, ruin, or calamity, emphasizing pervasive destruction.
- shall fall upon thee: Indicates direct, forceful, and unavoidable impact. It is a divinely decreed inevitability.
- thou shalt not be able to put it off (לֹא תוּכְלִי שַׂחֲרָהּ, lō' tûklî šaḥarāh): Literally, "you will not be able to ransom/redeem it" or "to seek its dawn (i.e., avert its arrival)." Implies no possibility of averting, deflecting, or buying off the judgment with wealth or magic.
- and desolation (שֹׁאָה, sho'ah): Represents utter ruin, devastation, or total destruction, portraying the full extent of the impending disaster.
- shall come upon thee suddenly (פֶתַע, petha'): Emphasizes the unexpected, immediate, and swift nature of the disaster, leaving no time for preparation.
- which thou shalt not know (לֹא תֵדָעִי, lō' tēd'î): Reiterates Babylon's complete ignorance and lack of prior awareness, proving the futility of her divination and self-reliant wisdom.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth": This phrase directly undermines Babylon's reliance on occult knowledge and divination. Despite her reliance on astrologers and soothsayers, she will be completely blind to the origin or specific manner of the coming disaster. God's judgment transcends and outsmarts all human and demonic intelligence.
- "and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off": This attacks Babylon's perceived invincibility and power to control her destiny. No amount of wealth, political maneuvering, magical ritual, or ransom will be able to deflect the catastrophe. God's judgment, once decreed, is irreversible by human means.
- "and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know": This final, powerful pronouncement emphasizes the abruptness and comprehensive nature of the judgment, allowing no time for reaction or defense. The overwhelming speed of its arrival, coupled with complete ignorance of its specifics, seals Babylon's fate without any hope of escape or preparation. It is a decisive and inescapable divine act.
Isaiah 47 11 Bonus section
The emphatic repetition of "not know" and "not be able to" (appearing three times within the verse) powerfully reinforces the theme of utter helplessness and the abject failure of all human or occult knowledge against God's sovereign judgment. This prophetic declaration against Babylon finds a potent spiritual echo in the New Testament warnings concerning the sudden return of Christ and the judgment awaiting those who remain unprepared, emphasizing eternal vigilance over perceived earthly security or worldly wisdom. Furthermore, the divine "you" throughout the verse, directly addressing "Babylon," personifies and individualizes the condemnation, stripping her of all the dignity and presumed power she once held. The three distinct terms for disaster—ra'ah (general evil/calamity), howah (mischief/ruin), and sho'ah (desolation/catastrophe)—are not mere synonyms but intensify the magnitude of the coming ruin, portraying it as comprehensive in every dimension.
Isaiah 47 11 Commentary
Isaiah 47:11 delivers a stark divine verdict against Babylon's immense pride and reliance on occult arts. Her arrogant boast of unique sovereignty ("I am, and there is none besides me") is met with a three-fold declaration of escalating calamity: pervasive disaster, absolute ruin, and total desolation. The essence of the verse lies in highlighting the inescapable, unexpected, and irreversible nature of God's judgment. Babylon, who trusted in her intelligence, esoteric knowledge, and political acumen, will find herself utterly blind to the origin of her downfall, incapable of deflecting its impact, and overwhelmed by its suddenness. This passage profoundly illustrates God's absolute sovereignty over human hubris and all false powers, rendering the wisdom and strength of the mightiest earthly kingdom completely powerless against His decree. It serves as a potent reminder that true security and profound knowledge are found solely in the Lord.