Isaiah 14
1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob.
[But] Yahweh will act mercifully toward the Israeli people; he will choose [the people of] Israel [to be his people again], and he will allow them to [return here and] live in their own land again. Then people from [many] other countries will come here and unite with the Israeli people.
2 The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them in the LORD’s land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
People of other nations will help them to return to their [own] land, and those who come from other countries will (work for/become the servants of) the Israeli people. Those who captured people of Israel will be captured by Israeli soldiers, and the people of Israel will rule over the people who [previously] oppressed them.
3 It will happen in the day that the LORD will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve,
Some day Yahweh will free you [Israeli people] from suffering and trouble and from being afraid, and from being cruelly treated as slaves [MTY].
4 that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”
When that happens, you will make fun of the King of Babylon by saying this: “You treated us cruelly, but that has ended! Your insolently causing others to suffer is finished!
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
You evil ruler, Yahweh will get rid of your power, and you will oppress people no longer!
6 who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that no one restrained.
You attacked people many times because you were very angry with them, and you subdued/conquered [other] nations by causing them to suffer endlessly.
7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out in song.
[But soon] everything will be quiet and peaceful on the earth. Everyone [PRS] will sing [again]!
8 Yes, the cypress trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us.”
[It will be as though] even the trees in the forests will joyfully sing this song, the cyprus/pine [trees] and the cedar [trees] in Lebanon will sing it: ‘You (have been overthrown/are no longer a ruler), and now no one comes to get rid of us [MET].’
9 Sheol (Sheol h7585) from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the departed spirits for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
The dead people are [PRS] are eagerly waiting for you to come to the place where they are. The spirits of the world leaders will be delighted to welcome you; those who were kings of many nations [before they died] will stand up [to welcome you]. (Sheol h7585)
10 They all will answer and ask you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?”
They will all shout to you [together], ‘Now you are as weak as we are!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol (Sheol h7585), with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you.
You were very proud and powerful, [but all] that ended when you died, along with the sounds of harps [being played in your palace]. [Now in your grave] maggots will be under you [like a sheet] [MET], and worms will cover you [like a blanket] [MET]. (Sheol h7585)
12 How you have fallen from heaven, shining one, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!
You have [disappeared from the earth like] [MET] a star which has fallen from the sky; you [were very well-known] [like] [MET] the morning star [which is seen by everyone]; you destroyed [many] nations, but now you have been destroyed.
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!
You [proudly] said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven, to my throne above God’s stars. I will rule on the mountain where [the gods] gather together, far in the north.
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!”
I will ascend above the clouds and become like the highest/greatest god!’
[But you were not able to do that]; instead, you were carried down to your grave, and you went to the place where the dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
16 Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms,
The [other dead] people there stare at you; they wonder what happened to you. [They say], ‘Is this the man who caused the earth to shake and caused the [people in many] kingdoms to tremble?
17 who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities, who did not release his prisoners to their home?”
Is this the man who [tried to] cause the world to become a desert, who conquered its cities and did not allow the people whom he captured to return to their homes?’
18 All the kings of the nations sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.
All the kings of the earth [who have died] were greatly honored when they were buried,
19 But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot.
but your [corpse will] not be buried; it will be thrown away like [SIM] a worthless branch [of a tree]. Your corpse will be under a heap of other corpses of soldiers that were killed by [their enemies’] swords, and [their corpses] were not buried; you will be with those who have gone down to the stony ground in a big pit.
20 You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The offspring of evildoers will not be named forever.
Your [corpse] will not be buried because you have destroyed your nation and have caused your people to be killed. The descendants of wicked people [like you] will never be honored again.
21 Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities.
[People will say], ‘Slaughter this man’s children because of the sins that their ancestors committed! Do not allow them to become rulers and conquer [all the nations in] the world, and fill the world with the cities [that they rule]!’”
22 “I will rise up against them,” says the LORD of Armies, “and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son,” says the LORD.
[This is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says: “I [myself] will cause Babylon to be conquered. I will get rid of Babylon and its people and their descendants.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the LORD of Armies.
I will cause Babylon to be a place where owls live, a place full of swamps; I will get rid of it completely [as though] [MET] I were sweeping it with a broom. [That is what I], the Commander of the armies of angels, say.”
24 The LORD of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
The Commander of the armies of angels has [also] solemnly promised this: “The things that I have planned will surely happen [DOU].
25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and tread him under foot on my mountains. Then his yoke will leave them, and his burden leave their shoulders.
[When the army of] Assyria is in my land [of Israel], I will crush them. [It will be as though] I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be the slaves [MET] of the people of Assyria; [it will be as though] [MET] I will take away the burdens that are on their shoulders.
26 This is the plan that is determined for the whole earth. This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
I have a plan for everyone on the earth, a plan to show my power [MTY] to punish all the nations.
27 For the LORD of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
[I], the Commander of the armies of angels, have spoken, and no one can [RHQ] change my mind. When I raise my fist [to strike Assyria], no one [RHQ] will be able to stop me [from doing that].”
28 This burden was in the year that King Ahaz died.
I received this message [from Yahweh] during the year that King Ahaz died:
29 Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent.
You people of Philistia, do not rejoice that the enemy army [MET] that attacked you has been defeated and that their king is dead. He was [as dangerous as] [MET] a snake, but there will be another king, who will be more [dangerous] than a cobra; he will be [like] [MET] a quick-moving poisonous snake.
30 The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed.
Those of my people who are very poor will take care of their flocks of sheep, and the needy people will lie down safely, but I will cause you people [of Philistia] who are still alive [DOU] to die from famine.
31 Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
[So], you people of Philistia, wail at the gates of your cities! You should be extremely afraid, because [a very powerful army] will come from the north [to attack you]; [their chariots will stir up the dust like] [MET] a cloud of smoke. Each of their soldiers is ready to fight.
32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.
If messengers [from Philistia] come to us [Israeli people], this is what we must [RHQ] tell them: “Yahweh has established Jerusalem, [not Philistia], and his people who are oppressed will be safe inside [the walls of] Jerusalem.”
