Isaiah 14
1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will again make choice of Israel, and replace them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined unto them, and they shall attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
2 The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
And nations shall take them, and bring them to their own place; but the house of Israel shall obtain possession of them in the land of the Lord for men-servants and for maid-servants; and they shall take captive their captors, and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
And it shall come to pass on the day when the Lord will give thee rest from thy trouble, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
4 you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
That thou wilt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath ceased the oppressor! ceased the exactress of gold!
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
Broken hath the Lord the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of rulers;
6 It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
He who smote people in wrath, blows without intermission, he that ruled in anger nations, persecuting without restraint.
7 All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
At rest, quiet is all the earth; men break forth into loud song.
8 Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Also, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, the cedars of Lebanon, “Since thou wast laid low, no feller is come up against us.”
9 Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you— all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones. (Sheol h7585)
The nether world from below is in motion concerning thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the departed for thee, all the chief ones of the earth; it hath caused to rise up from their thrones all the kings of nations. (Sheol h7585)
10 They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
They all will commence and say unto thee, “Thou—thou also art become weak like us; similar unto us art thou become!”
11 Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket. (Sheol h7585)
Into the nether world is brought down thy pride, the clatter of thy psalteries: beneath thee is spread the worm, and thy cover is the moth. (Sheol h7585)
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O morning-star, son of the dawn! how art thou hewn down to the ground, crusher of nations!
13 You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north.
And thou—thou hadst said in thy heart, “Into heaven will I ascend, above the stars of God will I exalt my throne; and I will sit also upon the mount of the assembly, in the farthest end of the north;
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be equal to the Most High.”
But into the nether world shalt thou be brought down, into the lowest depth. (Sheol h7585)
16 Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,
They that see thee will gaze at thee, will regard thee well, [saying, ] “Is this the man that caused the earth to tremble, that made kingdoms quake?
17 who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
That rendered the world as a wilderness, and pulled down its cities: never opened the prison-house of his prisoners?”
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
All the kings of nations, all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own [eternal] house.
19 But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot.
But thou—thou art cast out of thy grave like a discarded offshoot, as a garment of those that are slain, pierced by the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under foot.
20 You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.
Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; because thy land hast thou destroyed, thy people hast thou slain: to eternity shall not be called the seed of evil-doers.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities.
Prepare for his children the slaughter, for the iniquity of their fathers: that they may not rise, and possess the land, and fill the face of the world with enemies [of mankind].
22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,”
And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will cut off from Babylon name, and remnant, and son, and grandson, saith the Lord.
23 “I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.
24 The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
Sworn hath the Lord of hosts, saying, Surely as I have purposed, so doth it come to pass; and as I have resolved, so shall it occur:
25 I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”
To break Asshur in my own land, and upon my mountains will I tread him under foot; then shall his yoke be removed from off them, and his burden from off their shoulders.
26 This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
This is the resolve that is resolved over all the earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
For the Lord of hosts hath resolved, and who shall frustrate it? and it is his hand which is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
In the year king Achaz died was this prophecy [given].
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
Rejoice not, thou entire Palestine, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and its fruit shall be a flying dragon.
30 Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be slain.
And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall rest in safety: and I will kill with famine thy root, and men shall slay thy remnant.
31 Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there are no stragglers in its ranks.
Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; thou art dissolved, O thou entire Palestine; for from the north a smoke is coming, and there is no one solitary among those that are bidden to come.
32 What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
And what will each one of the messengers of the nation answer? That the Lord hath founded Zion; and that therein shall find protection the poor of his people.
