Isaiah 14
14
A Taunt for Babylon’s King
1But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.#14:1 Hebrew the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation. 2The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the Lord’s land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies.
3In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, 4you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,
“The mighty man has been destroyed.
Yes, your insolence#14:4 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; the meaning of the Masoretic Text is uncertain. is ended.
5For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
and broken your evil rule.
6You struck the people with endless blows of rage
and held the nations in your angry grip
with unrelenting tyranny.
7But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
Now it can sing again!
8Even the trees of the forest—
the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
no one will come now to cut us down!’
9“In the place of the dead#14:9 Hebrew Sheol; also in 14:15. there is excitement
over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
stand up to see you.
10With one voice they all cry out,
‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11Your might and power were buried with you.#14:11 Hebrew were brought down to Sheol.
The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
and worms your blanket.’
12“How you are fallen from heaven,
O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13For you said to yourself,
‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
far away in the north.#14:13 Or on the heights of Zaphon.
14I will climb to the highest heavens
and be like the Most High.’
15Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
down to its lowest depths.
16Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17Is this the one who destroyed the world
and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities
and had no mercy on his prisoners?’
18“The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,
each in his own tomb,
19but you will be thrown out of your grave
like a worthless branch.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
you will be dumped into a mass grave
with those killed in battle.
You will descend to the pit.
20You will not be given a proper burial,
for you have destroyed your nation
and slaughtered your people.
The descendants of such an evil person
will never again receive honor.
21Kill this man’s children!
Let them die because of their father’s sins!
They must not rise and conquer the earth,
filling the world with their cities.”
22This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“I, myself, have risen against Babylon!
I will destroy its children and its children’s children,”
says the Lord.
23“I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls,
filled with swamps and marshes.
I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction.
I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
A Message about Assyria
24The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath:
“It will all happen as I have planned.
It will be as I have decided.
25I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel;
I will trample them on my mountains.
My people will no longer be their slaves
nor bow down under their heavy loads.
26I have a plan for the whole earth,
a hand of judgment upon all the nations.
27The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken—
who can change his plans?
When his hand is raised,
who can stop him?”
A Message about Philistia
28This message came to me the year King Ahaz died:#14:28 King Ahaz died in 715 b.c.
29Do not rejoice, you Philistines,
that the rod that struck you is broken—
that the king who attacked you is dead.
For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born,
a fiery serpent to destroy you!
30I will feed the poor in my pasture;
the needy will lie down in peace.
But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine
and destroy the few who remain.
31Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities!
Melt with fear, you Philistines!
A powerful army comes like smoke from the north.
Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight.
32What should we tell the Philistine messengers? Tell them,
“The Lord has built Jerusalem#14:32 Hebrew Zion.;
its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people.”
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Isaiah 14: NLT
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Isaiah 14
14
The Restoration of Israel
1But Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob,
and he will again choose Israel
and set them on their land,
and the immigrant will join himself to them,
and they will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
2And the nations will take them
and bring them to their place,
and the house of Israel will take possession of them#That is, the nations in the land of Yahweh
as slaves and female slaves.
And this will happen:
they will take their captors captive
and rule over their oppressors.
The Downfall of the King of Babylon
3And it shall happen on the day Yahweh gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and hard labor which you had to perform,#Literally “was worked by you”
4that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon,
and you will say:
“How the oppressor has ceased!
his insolence#The meaning of the word is uncertain; others translate it as “fury,” “hostility,” or even “golden city” has ceased.
5Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
6that struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrestrained persecution.#Literally “persecution without withholding”
7All of the earth rests and is quiet;
they break forth into singing.
8Even the cypresses rejoice over you,
the cedars of Lebanon:
‘Since you were laid down,
no wood cutter comes up against us.’
9Sheol below is getting excited over you,
to meet you when you come;#Literally “your entrance”
it arouses the dead spirits for you,
all of the leaders of the earth.
It raises all of the kings of the nations from their thrones.
10All of them will respond and say to you,
‘You yourself also were made weak like us!
You have become the same as us!’
11Your pride is brought down to Sheol,
and the sound of your harps;
maggots#Hebrew “maggot” are spread out beneath you like a bed,
and your covering is worms.#Hebrew “worm”
12How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn!
You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations!
13And you yourself said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise up my throne above the stars of God;
and I will sit on the mountain of assembly
on the summit of Zaphon;#Or “of the north”
14I will ascend to the high places of the clouds,#Hebrew “cloud”
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the depths of the pit.
16Those who see you will stare at you,
they will look closely at you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who caused kingdoms to shake,
17who made the world like the desert
and destroyed its cities,
who would not let his prisoners go home?’
18All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory,
each one in his house.
19But as for you, you are thrown away from your grave,
like an abhorrent shoot,
clothed with the slain,
those pierced by the sword,
those who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a corpse that is trodden down.
20You will not be united with them in burial
because you have destroyed your land,
you have killed your people.
The descendants#Hebrew “descendant” of evildoers will not be mentioned for eternity!
21Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
because of the sin of their ancestors.#Or “fathers”
Let them not rise and take possession of the earth
or fill up the face of the world with cities.”
22“And I will rise up against them,”
declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh of hosts,
“and I will cut off name and a remnant from Babylon,
and offspring and posterity,”
declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh.
23“And I will make her a possession of the hedgehog,
and pools of water,
and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,”
declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh of hosts.
Oracle of Judgment on Assyria
24Yahweh of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely#The oath formula begins literally “If not” just as I have intended, so it shall be.
And just as I have planned, it shall stand:
25to break Assyria in my land,
and I will trample him down on my mountains;
and he shall remove his yoke from them,
and he shall remove his burden from his#That is, their shoulders.”#Hebrew “shoulder”
26This is the plan that is planned concerning all of the earth;
and this is the hand that is stretched out over all of the nations.
27For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate it?
And his hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
Oracle of Judgment on Philistia
28In the year of the death of king Ahaz there was this oracle:
29You must not rejoice, all you Philistines,
that the rod that struck you is broken,
for a viper will come forth from the root of the snake,
and its fruit will be a flying serpent.
30And the firstborn of the poor will graze,
and the needy will lie down in security;
but I will cause your root to die in famine,
and it will kill your remnant.
31Wail, gate! Cry, city!
Melt,#With fear or despair Philistia, all of you!
For smoke is coming from the north,
and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32And what will one answer the messengers of the nation?
That Yahweh has founded Zion,
and the needy of his people will take refuge in it.
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