Isaiah 14
14
Israel Will Be Rescued from Babylon
1The Lord will have compassion for Jacob and again choose Israel.
He will resettle them in their own country.
Foreigners will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
2People will take them
and bring them to their own place.
The nation of Israel will possess nations
as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.
They will take their captors captive
and rule their oppressors.
3When that day comes, the Lord will give you relief
from your pain and suffering,
from the hard slavery you were forced to do.
4Then you will mock the king of Babylon with this saying,
“How the tyrant has come to an end!
How his attacks have come to an end!”
5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
6They struck the people with fury,
with blows that didn’t stop.
They ruled nations in anger,
persecuting them without restraint.
7The whole earth rests and is peaceful.
It breaks out into shouts of joy.
8Even the cypresses rejoice over you.
The cedars of Lebanon say,
“Since you have fallen,
no lumberjack has come to attack us.”
9Sheol below wakes up to meet you when you come.
It wakes up the ghosts of the dead,
all who were leaders on earth.
It raises all who were kings of the nations from their thrones.
10All of them will greet you,
“You also have become weak like us!
You have become like one of us!”
11Your pride has been brought down to Sheol
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out ⌞like a bed⌟ under you,
and worms cover you.
12How you have fallen from heaven, you morning star, son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the ground, you conqueror of nations!
13You thought,
“I’ll go up to heaven and set up my throne above God’s stars.
I’ll sit on the mountain far away in the north
where the gods assemble.
14I’ll go above the top of the clouds.
I’ll be like the Most High.”
15But you’ve been brought down to Sheol,
to the deepest part of the pit.
16Those who see you stare at you; they look at you closely and say,
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17who made the world like a desert and tore down its cities,
who didn’t let his prisoners go home?”
18All the kings of the nations, all of them,
have been buried with honor, each in his own tomb.
19But you are thrown out of your tomb like a rejected branch.
You are covered with those who were killed in battle.
You go down to the stones of the pit like a trampled corpse.
20You won’t be joined by the kings in the tomb,
because you have destroyed your land and killed your people.
The descendants of the wicked will never be mentioned again.
21Prepare a place to slaughter their sons
because of their ancestors’ guilt.
They won’t be able to rise, possess the earth,
and rebuild cities all over it.
22“I’ll rise up against them,” declares the Lord of Armies.
“I’ll cut off the name of the survivors from Babylon,
its offspring and descendants,” declares the Lord.
23“It will become the possession of herons.
It will become pools of water.
I’ll sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of Armies.
Assyria Will Be Punished
24The Lord of Armies has taken an oath:
“It will happen exactly as I’ve intended.
It will turn out exactly as I’ve planned.
25I’ll crush Assyria on my land.
I’ll trample it underfoot on my mountains.
Then its yoke #14:25 A yoke is a wooden bar placed over the necks of work animals so that they can pull plows or carts. will be removed from my people,
and its burden will be removed from their shoulders.”
26This is the plan determined for the whole earth.
This is how he will use his power against all the nations.
27The Lord of Armies has planned it. Who can stop it?
He is ready to use his power. Who can turn it back?
The Philistines Will Be Punished
28This was the divine revelation in the year King Ahaz died.
29All you Philistines, don’t rejoice
that the rod of the one who struck you is broken,
because a viper will come from that snake’s root,
and his descendant will be a flying, fiery serpent.
30The poorest of the poor will eat,
and the needy will lie down in safety.
But I will put your root to death with famine
and kill off your survivors.
31Cry loudly in the gate!
Cry out in the city!
Be frightened, all you Philistines!
Smoke comes from the north,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks.
32How should we answer the messengers from the nations?
⌞Tell them that⌟ the Lord has laid Zion’s foundation,
and his humble people will find refuge in it.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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