¹ “Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate. ² Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams. ³ Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.” ⁴ Our Redeemer—the Lord Almighty is his name— is the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ “Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms. ⁶ I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke. ⁷ You said, ‘I am forever— the eternal queen!` But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. <sup>8</sup> “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.`