Isaiah 47
v.8
“Now then, listen, you wanton creature, 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.’
The use of “I am” would have immediately struck a chord for this Israelite audience (see Ex 3:14). There was no claim too arrogant for these kings to make for themselves. An Assyrian king of the ninth century, Ashurnasirpal, had a list of eleven “I am” titles for himself.
v.9
Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.
Literally thousands of texts have been uncovered, dealing with a multitude of subjects, including incantations that help alleviate the pain of a toothache, help a baby that is stuck in the womb and help a mother who is barren. It appears that the common person hired an incantation priest for even the most mundane problem.
v.10
You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
Men often confide in their own wickedness - their cunning, their artifices, their frauds, their acts of oppression and cruelty, and suppose that they are secure against the judgments of God.
v.13
All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.
In the Late Assyrian Period (c. 900-612 B.C.) reports were regularly made to the king about the appearance of the moon and planets, with comments about what these things foretold. The Babylonians appeared to have invented the twelve signs of the zodiac about 500 B.C., roughly the same time as Cyrus of Persia.