Verse 11 announces that God will punish Babylonia because of its arrogance noted in the previous verse. It consists of three parallel clauses, each marked by the phrase “come/fall upon/on you.” This links back to the punishment mentioned in verse 9, where the phrase “come to you” was also used. In translation this phrase should be repeated to ensure the same emphasis is given as in the original. Each of the clauses here with this phrase is followed by a negative clause, describing Babylonia’s inability to prevent or even foresee the coming punishment. In this way a pattern of words is established that further emphasizes the certainty of the actual punishment.

But evil shall come upon you: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction (literally “And”), which has a contrastive sense in this context. Good News Translation leaves it implied. In verse 10 we noted that the Hebrew noun rendered “wickedness” could mean “disaster” as well as evil. Here that double sense is very obvious because of the parallel structure—the next line speaks of “disaster.” Good News Translation combines the first four lines, focusing on the meaning “disaster.”

For which you cannot atone: This line in Masoretic Text is literally “you do not know its dawn.” Nouvelle Bible Segond follows Masoretic Text by saying “without you knowing its dawn,” with a footnote explaining that “dawn” is an image for “origin” or “solution.” However, many commentators emend Masoretic Text to read “you cannot charm it away [by magic].” It means that the Babylonians will not be able to use magic or sorcery to prevent the calamity from happening to them. Most versions follow this reading; for example, New Revised Standard Version has “which you cannot charm away,” and Good News Translation says “and none of your magic can stop it.” No modern translation consulted follows Revised Standard Version‘s reading with the verb atone.

Disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to expiate is parallel to the first two lines. The text does not indicate what the disaster will be, but it is clear that Babylonia will suffer it, not cause it. The Hebrew verb rendered expiate is from the Hebrew root kpr (literally “to cover”), which is a technical term for the removal of sin. However, here it does not have that technical sense, but the more general sense of avoiding something, as in Pro 16.14 (“appease”). New Revised Standard Version and New International Version use “ward off,” while Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible suggest “avert.” For the fourth line Bible en français courant has “without you being able to protect yourself.” Another valid model is “you will not be able to avoid it.” This clause reminds the Babylonians that there is nothing they can do to avoid the punishment that is about to fall on them.

And ruin shall come on you suddenly, of which you know nothing is the third parallel sentence in this verse. The Hebrew word translated ruin can also mean “storm” (see 10.3). Here it refers to some disaster that will happen. The Hebrew adverb rendered suddenly has the same sense as “in a moment” in verse 9 to describe Babylonia’s sudden downfall (see 29.5 and 30.13, where it occurred earlier). Of which you know nothing means the Babylonians will not be able to foresee the coming disaster. Their lack of knowledge is an important theme in this section. In verse 10 God told them that their knowledge fooled them when they thought of themselves as a god. Here he points to their lack of knowledge about the coming disaster. New International Version expresses this sense by rendering the clause as “a catastrophe you cannot foresee” (similarly Revised English Bible). New Jerusalem Bible, however, believes it makes a comparison to the past by saying “such as you have never known,” which means the coming disaster will exceed anything they have experienced before. Both these renderings are valid models for translation.

Good News Translation reduces the three parallel sentences in this verse to two, which some languages may prefer. However, we recommend keeping the repetition if possible, because it conveys the certainty of Babylonia’s disastrous future.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• But calamity will come upon you,
and you cannot stop it with your magic;
disaster will fall upon you,
and you cannot protect against it;
ruin will come upon you suddenly,
and you will not be able to foresee it.

• But destruction will strike you,
and you will not be able to use charms against it;
misfortune will come upon you,
and you will not be able to protect yourself/yourselves against it;
ruin will come upon you suddenly,
a ruin you know nothing about.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .