Isaiah 14
14
1But the Lord will be merciful to the descendants of Jacob. Once again he will choose Israel and he will bring them back to live once more in their own land. Foreigners will come and join them there, and they will unite with the descendants of Jacob. 2Nations will go with them and escort them to their own land. The foreigners who stay in the Lord's land will serve the Israelites. In this way the captors become their captives, and they rule over their former oppressors.
3At that time the Lord will give you relief from your pain and trouble, and from the hard labor you were forced to do. 4You will mock the king of Babylon, saying, “How your oppressive rule has been ended, and your insolence stopped! 5The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the rulers' scepter. 6You kept on furiously hitting foreign peoples without stopping, and aggressively ruled nations with unrestrained persecution. 7Now the whole earth rests peacefully, and everyone starts celebrating! 8The cypress and cedar trees are glad you're gone. They sing, ‘Since you were cut down no woodcutters are coming to cut us down!’
9Those in the grave beneath are keen to meet you when you arrive. It wakes the spirits of the dead to welcome you, those of all the rulers of the earth. All the kings of the nations stand up from their thrones.#14:9. These verses are poetic, and not to be taken literally. 10They will all speak up and tell you, ‘So you too are as weak as we are—you've become just like us! 11Your pride is now buried with you in the grave, along with the harp music you loved. Maggots are the bed you lie on, and worms are your blanket.’
12Morning star,#14:12. Literally, “shining one,” referring to the planet Venus whose rise in the sky promised the soon-coming dawn. In the Septuagint this was translated as “dawn bringer” which in Latin became “Lucifer,” (light bringer) which is the basis for the King James translation. son of the dawn, how you have fallen from heaven! Destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground! 13You said to yourself: ‘I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the mountain of meeting, the summit of the northern mountain.#14:13. This fits with Babylonian mythology in which the gods were thought of as meeting on a mountain north of Babylon. 14I will ascend to the high places above the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15But you are dragged down to the grave, into the depths of the pit. 16Those who see you will stare at you, examining you closely, asking, ‘Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble? 17Is this the one who turned the world into a desert, destroyed cities, and never let his prisoners return home?’
18All the other kings of the nations lie in splendor in their great mausoleums. 19But you are thrown out of your grave like a branch nobody wants, buried underneath the bodies of those killed by the sword. You are like a corpse trodden underfoot. You are tossed into a pit full of rocks— 20you will not be buried like those other kings#14:20. “Like those other kings”: supplied for clarity. because you destroyed your own land and killed your own people. The descendants of those who do evil will never survive. 21Get ready to execute his sons because of their fathers'#14:21. “Fathers” is plural to suggest that the guilt was not just the immediate father, but his ancestors as well. sins. Don't let them take over the earth; don't let them fill the whole world with their cities.
22I will come and attack them, declares the Lord Almighty. I will destroy everything: their reputation, those who remain, their children, and their descendants, says the Lord. 23I will make Babylon into a place for water birds#14:23. Some suggest a species of owl, others the bittern. and into marshland. I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction, declares the Lord Almighty.”
24The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: It will be as I have planned. It will happen as I have decided. 25I will smash the Assyrians when they are in my country Israel; I will trample them underfoot on my mountains. I will remove their yoke from my people, and take away the burdens they place on my people's shoulders. 26This is the plan I have made regarding the whole earth; my hand stretches out to control all the nations.
27The Lord Almighty has made his plan, and who will block it? His hand stretches out, and who will push back against it?
28The following message came in the year King Ahaz died. 29All you Philistines, don't celebrate the fact that the rod that was hitting you is broken, because from the root of that snake will grow up a viper, its fruit will be a flying serpent. 30The poor will have food, and the needy will live in safety, but you Philistines will die in a famine, and I#14:30. “I”: Dead Sea Scroll reading. Traditional text, “he.” will kill those who survive. 31Howl, gates! Weep, town! Melt away in fear, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke is approaching from the north—an army with no soldier hanging back. 32What will be the answer given to the messengers from that nation? “The Lord was the one who laid the foundations of Zion, and that's where his suffering people will be kept safe.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 14
14
Israel Will Return Home
1The Lord will show mercy to the people of Jacob, and he will again choose the people of Israel. He will settle them in their own land. Then non-Israelite people will join the Israelites and will become a part of the family of Jacob. 2Nations will take the Israelites back to their land. Then those men and women from the other nations will become slaves to Israel in the Lord’s land. In the past the Israelites were their slaves, but now the Israelites will defeat those nations and rule over them.
The King of Babylon Will Fall
3The Lord will take away the Israelites’ hard work and will comfort them. They will no longer have to work hard as slaves. 4On that day Israel will sing this song about the king of Babylon:
The cruel king who ruled us is finished;
his angry rule is finished!
5The Lord has broken the scepter of evil rulers
and taken away their power.
6The king of Babylon struck people in anger
again and again.
He ruled nations in anger
and continued to hurt them.
7But now, the whole world rests and is quiet.
Now the people begin to sing.
8Even the pine trees are happy,
and the cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king has fallen,
so no one will ever cut us down again.”
9The place of the dead is excited
to meet you when you come.
It wakes the spirits of the dead,
the leaders of the world.
It makes kings of all nations
stand up from their thrones to greet you.
10All these leaders will make fun of you
and will say,
“Now you are weak, as we are.
Now you are just like us.”
11Your pride has been sent down to the place of the dead.
The music from your harps goes with it.
Flies are spread out like your bed beneath you,
and worms cover your body like a blanket.
12King of Babylon, morning star, you have fallen from heaven,
even though you were as bright as the rising sun!
In the past all the nations on earth bowed down before you,
but now you have been cut down.
13You told yourself,
“I will go up to heaven.
I will put my throne
above God’s stars.
I will sit on the mountain of the gods,
on the slopes of the sacred mountain.
14I will go up above the tops of the clouds.
I will be like God Most High.”
15But you were brought down to the grave,
to the deep places where the dead are.
16Those who see you stare at you.
They think about what has happened to you
and say, “Is this the same man who caused great fear on earth,
who shook the kingdoms,
17who turned the world into a desert,
who destroyed its cities,
who captured people in war
and would not let them go home?”
18Every king of the earth has been buried with honor,
each in his own grave.
19But you are thrown out of your grave,
like an unwanted branch.
You are covered by bodies
that died in battle,
by bodies to be buried in a rocky pit.
You are like a dead body other soldiers walk on.
20You will not be buried with those bodies,
because you ruined your own country
and killed your own people.
The children of evil people
will never be mentioned again.
21Prepare to kill his children,
because their father is guilty.
They will never again take control of the earth;
they will never again fill the world with their cities.
22The Lord All-Powerful says this:
“I will fight against those people;
I will destroy Babylon and its people,
its children and their descendants,” says the Lord.
23“I will make Babylon fit only for owls
and for swamps.
I will sweep Babylon as with a broom of destruction,”
says the Lord All-Powerful.
God Will Punish Assyria
24The Lord All-Powerful has made this promise:
“These things will happen exactly as I planned them;
they will happen exactly as I set them up.
25I will destroy the king of Assyria in my country;
I will trample him on my mountains.
He placed a heavy load on my people,
but that weight will be removed.
26“This is what I plan to do for all the earth.
And this is the hand that I have raised over all nations.”
27When the Lord All-Powerful makes a plan,
no one can stop it.
When the Lord raises his hand to punish people,
no one can stop it.
God’s Message to Philistia
28This message was given in the year that King Ahaz died:
29Country of Philistia, don’t be happy
that the king who struck you is now dead.
He is like a snake that will give birth to another dangerous snake.
The new king will be like a quick, dangerous snake to bite you.
30Even the poorest of my people will be able to eat safely,
and people in need will be able to lie down in safety.
But I will kill your family with hunger,
and all your people who are left will die.
31People near the city gates, cry out!
Philistines, be frightened,
because a cloud of dust comes from the north.
It is an army, full of men ready to fight.
32What shall we tell the messengers from Philistia?
Say that the Lord has made Jerusalem strong
and that his poor people will go there for safety.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.