< Isaiah 14 >
1 For Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. And the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cling to the house of Jacob.
2 And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place. And the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Jehovah for servants and for handmaids. And they shall take them captive whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 And it shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service in which thou were made to serve,
4 that thou shall take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased!
5 Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
6 who smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.
7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break forth into singing.
8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou are laid low, no hewer has come up against us.
9 Sheol from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming. It stirs up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. (Sheol )
10 They shall all answer and say to thee, Have thou also become weak as we? Have thou become like us?
11 Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy viols. The worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee. (Sheol )
12 How thou are fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! How thou are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!
13 And thou said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the outermost parts of the north.
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High.
15 Yet thou shall be brought down to Sheol, to the utmost parts of the pit. (Sheol )
16 Those who see thee shall gaze at thee. They shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities of it, who did not let loose his prisoners to their home?
18 All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, each one in his own house.
19 But thou are cast forth away from thy sepulcher like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, as a dead body trodden under foot.
20 Thou shall not be joined with them in burial, because thou have destroyed thy land. Thou have slain thy people. The seed of evildoers shall not be named forever.
21 Prepare ye slaughter for his sons for the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.
22 And I will rise up against them, says Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, says Jehovah.
23 I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. And I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Jehovah of hosts.
24 Jehovah of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and tread him under foot upon my mountains. Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder.
26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27 For Jehovah of hosts has purposed, and who shall annul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken. For out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety. And I will kill thy root with famine, and thy remnant shall be slain.
31 Howl, O gate, cry, O city. Thou are melted away, O Philistia, all of thee. For there comes a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What then shall a man answer the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah has founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge.
