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
1The Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and aliens will join them and will cleave to the house of Jacob. 2And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord's land as male and female slaves; they will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.
3When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
the insolent fury#14.4 One ancient Ms Compare Gk Syr Vg: The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain ceased!
5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
6that smote the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
7The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
they break forth into singing.
8The cypresses rejoice at you,
the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no hewer comes up against us.’
9Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come,
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
10All of them will speak
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are the bed beneath you,
and worms are your covering.
12“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far north;
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
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,
and ponder over you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms,
17who made the world like a desert
and overthrew its cities,
who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;
19but you are cast out, away from your sepulchre,
like a loathed untimely birth,#14.19 Cn Compare Tg Symmachus: Heb a loathed branch
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the Pit,
like a dead body trodden under foot.
20You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land,
you have slain your people.
“May the descendants of evildoers
nevermore be named!
21Prepare slaughter for his sons
because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
and fill the face of the world with cities.”
22“I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says the Lord. 23And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.”
24The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,
25that I will break the Assyrian in my land,
and upon my mountains trample him under foot;
and his yoke shall depart from them,
and his burden from their shoulder.”
26This is the purpose that is purposed
concerning the whole earth;
and this is the hand that is stretched out
over all the nations.
27For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?
28In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle:
29 #
Jer 47; Ezek 25.15-17; Joel 3.4-8; Amos 1.6-8; Zeph 2.4-7; Zech 9.5-7. “Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,
that the rod which smote you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
and its fruit will be a flying serpent.
30And the first-born of the poor will feed,
and the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
and your remnant I#14.30 One ancient Ms Vg: Heb he will slay.
31Wail, O gate; cry, O city;
melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes out of the north,
and there is no straggler in his ranks.”
32What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
“The Lord has founded Zion,
and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America