Isaiah 14
14
Compassion for Jacob
1The LORD will have compassion on Jacob, will again choose Israel, and will give them rest in their own land. Immigrants will join them, and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2The peoples will take them and will bring them to their own place. The house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the LORD’s land, making captives of their captors and ruling their oppressors.
Mockery of a tyrant
3When the LORD has given you rest from pain and trouble and from the hard labor that you perform, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
How the oppressor#14.4 Heb uncertain has ceased!
How the flood#14.4 DSS (1QIsaa), LXX, Syr, Tg; MT fury has receded!
5The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
the rod of tyrants 6that struck peoples in rage with ceaseless blows,
that ruled nations with anger,
with relentless aggression.
7All the earth rests quietly,
then it breaks into song.
8Even the cypresses rejoice over you,
the cedars of Lebanon:
“Since you were laid low,
no logger comes up against us!”
9The underworld#14.9 Heb Sheol beneath becomes restless to greet your arrival.
It awakens the ghosts,
all the leaders of earth;
it makes the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
10All of them speak and say to you:
“Even you’ve become weak like we are!
You are the same as us!”
11Your majesty has been brought down to the underworld,#14.11 Heb Sheol
along with the sound of your harps.
Under you is a bed of maggots,
and worms are your blanket.
12How you’ve fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of dawn!
You are cut down to earth,
helpless on your back!
13You said to yourself, I will climb up to heaven;
above God’s stars, I will raise my throne.
I’ll sit on the mount of assembly,
on the heights of Zaphon.
14I’ll go up to the cloud tops;
I’ll be like the Most High!
15But down to the underworld#14.15 Heb Sheol you are brought,
to the depths of the pit.
16Those who see you will stare at you;
they will examine you closely:
“Is this the man who rattled the earth,
who shook kingdoms,
17who made the world a wasteland
and tore down its cities,
and wouldn’t let his prisoners go home?”
18All the kings of the nations lie down honored,
all of them, each in his own tomb.
19But you are cast away from your own grave
like a rejected branch,
covered by the dead
and those pierced by the sword—
who go down to the stony pit—
like a trampled corpse.
20You won’t join them in burial,
for you destroyed your own land;
you killed your own people.
Such evil offspring will never be mentioned again!
21Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their father. Don’t let them arise to take over the earth or fill the world with cities.
22I will arise against them, says the LORD of heavenly forces. I will cut off Babylon’s renown and remnant, offshoot and offspring. 23I will make it the home of herons, a swampland. I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction, says the LORD of heavenly forces.
Promise for oppressed Judah
24The LORD of heavenly forces has promised:
As I intended, so it will be;
and as I have planned, so it will happen:
25I will break Assyria in my land;
on my mountains I will trample it
and remove its yoke from my people;#14.25 Or them
his burden will be taken from their shoulders.
26This is the plan that has been made for all the earth;
this is the hand extended over all the nations.
27The LORD of heavenly forces has created a plan;
who can stop it?
God’s hand is extended;
who will stop it?
An oracle concerning the Philistines
28This oracle came in the year of King Ahaz’s death:
29Don’t rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken,
because from the snake’s root a viper will grow,
and it will produce a winged creature.
30The oldest offspring of the poor will graze;
their needy will lie down secure.
But he will starve your offspring to death,
and murder all who remain.
31Wail, gate! Cry out, city!
Melt in terror, all you Philistines!
Smoke is coming from the north;
there is no straggler in its ranks.#14.31 Heb uncertain
32What will one say to that nation’s messengers?
The LORD has founded Zion;
the oppressed among God’s people will find refuge there.
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Isaiah 14: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 14
14
Israel’s Taunt
1For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel). 2The peoples will take them along and bring them to their own place (Judea), and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take captive those whose captives they have been, and they will rule over their [former] oppressors.
3And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, 4that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],
And how the fury has ceased!
5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers
6Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,
Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.
7The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They break into shouts of joy.
8Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 # I.e. the nether world, the place of the dead, Hades. Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];
It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].
10All of them will respond [tauntingly] and say to you,
‘You have become as weak as we are.
You have become like us.
11Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’
12How you have fallen from heaven,
O #Many students of the Bible have felt that the passage which follows applies to Satan (cf Luke 10:18). It is clear from the larger context that the passage addresses the king of Babylon, but that does not rule out a secondary reference to Satan. Many commentators are of the opinion that the arrogance expressed here is satanic, and that the passage correctly represents Satan’s attitude because he was working through the Babylonian ruler. The Hebrew for this expression is translated “Lucifer” (“light-bringer”) in The Latin Vulgate, and is translated this way in the King James Version. But because of the association of that name with Satan, it is not used in this and other translations. Some students feel that the application of the name Lucifer to Satan, in spite of the long and confident teaching to that effect, is erroneous. The application of the name to Satan has existed since the third century a.d., and is based on the supposition that Luke 10:18 is an explanation of Is 14:12, which many authorities believe is not true. “Lucifer,” the light-bringer, is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word “Phosphoros,” which is used as a title of Christ in 2 Pet 1:19 and corresponds to the name “radiant and brilliant Morning Star” in Rev 22:16, a name Jesus called Himself. This passage here in Is 14:12ff clearly applies to the king of Babylon.star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!
13But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the remote parts of the north.
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).
16Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will consider you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’
18All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,
Each one in his own sepulcher.
19But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],
Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].
20You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land,
You have slain your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be named!
21Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of 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 survivors, and son and grandson,” declares the Lord. 23“I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and of #The city of Babylon was in the middle of a very fertile area, and it would have seemed reasonable to suppose that, regardless of what happened to the population, the region would always furnish pasturage for flocks. But Isaiah said it would become the possession of wild animals and would be covered with “swamps of water.” This is how that prophecy was literally fulfilled: after Babylon was taken, the whole area around the city was put under water from neglect of the canals and dikes of the Euphrates River. It became stagnant “swamps of water” among ruins haunted by wild animals, proclaiming to any who might see it that it had happened just as the Lord intended (Is 14:24).swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.
Judgment on Assyria
24The Lord of hosts has sworn [an oath], saying, “Just as I have intended, so it has certainly happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand— 25to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’s #The prophecy against Assyria had actually by this time already been fulfilled, but Isaiah attached it to the as yet unfulfilled prophecy against Babylon as a pledge or guarantee of the fulfillment of the latter.yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations. 27For the Lord of hosts has decided and planned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
Judgment on Philistia
28In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died this [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) came:
29“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,
Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],
And its offspring will be a flying serpent.
30The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],
And the needy will lie down in safety;
But I will kill your root with famine,
And your survivors will be put to death.
31Howl, O gate; cry, O city!
Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;
For smoke comes out of the north,
And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions].
32Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it.”
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