< 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.
Because Jehovah loveth Jacob, And hath fixed again on Israel, And given them rest on their own land, And joined hath been the sojourner to them, And they have been admitted 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 peoples have taken them, And have brought them in unto their place, And the house of Israel have inherited them, On the land of Jehovah, For men-servants and for maid-servants, And they have been captors of their captors, And have ruled over their exactors.
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 hath come to pass, In the day of Jehovah's giving rest to thee, From thy grief, and from thy trouble, And from the sharp bondage, That hath been served upon thee,
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 hast taken up this simile Concerning the king of Babylon, and said, How hath the exactor ceased,
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
Ceased hath the golden one. Broken hath Jehovah 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 is smiting peoples in wrath, A smiting without intermission, He who is ruling in anger nations, Pursuing without restraint!
7 All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
At rest — quiet hath been all the earth, They have broken forth [into] singing.
8 Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Even firs have rejoiced over thee, Cedars of Lebanon — [saying]: Since thou hast lain down, The hewer cometh not 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 )
Sheol beneath hath been troubled at thee, To meet thy coming in, It is waking up for thee Rephaim, All chiefs ones of earth, It hath raised up from their thrones All kings of nations. (Sheol )
10 They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
All of them answer and say unto thee, Even thou hast become weak like us! Unto us thou hast become like!
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 )
Brought down to Sheol hath been thine excellency, The noise of thy psaltery, Under thee spread out hath been the worm, Yea, covering thee is the worm. (Sheol )
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 hast thou fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! Thou hast been cut down to earth, O weakener 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 saidst in thy heart: the heavens I go up, Above stars of God I raise my throne, And I sit in the mount of meeting in the sides of the north.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
I go up above the heights of a thick cloud, I am like to the Most High.
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (Sheol )
Only — unto Sheol thou art brought down, Unto the sides of the pit. (Sheol )
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,
Thy beholders look to thee, to thee they attend, Is this the man causing the earth to tremble, Shaking kingdoms?
17 who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
He hath made the world as a wilderness, And his cities he hath broken down, Of his bound ones he opened not the house.
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
All kings of nations — all of them, Have lain down in honour, each in his 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.
And — thou hast been cast out of thy grave, As an abominable branch, raiment of the slain, Thrust through ones of the sword, Going down unto the sons of the pit, As a carcase trodden down.
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 art not united with them in burial, For thy land thou hast destroyed, Thy people thou hast slain, Not named to the age is 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 ye for his sons slaughter; Because of the iniquity of their fathers, They rise not, nor have possessed the land, Nor filled the face of the world [with] cities.
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 have risen up against them, (The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, ) And have cut off, in reference to Babylon, Name and remnant, and continuator and successor, The affirmation of Jehovah.
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.
And have made it for a possession of a bittern, And ponds of waters, And daubed it with the mire of destruction, The affirmation of Jehovah 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 Jehovah of Hosts, saying, 'As I thought — so hath it not been? And as I counselled — it standeth;
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 land, And on My mountains I tread him down, And turned from off them hath his yoke, Yea, his burden from off their shoulder turneth aside.
26 This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
This [is] the counsel that is counselled for all the earth, And this [is] the hand that is stretched out for 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 Jehovah of Hosts hath purposed, And who doth make void? And His hand that is stretched out, Who doth turn it back?'
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
In the year of the death of king Ahaz was this burden:
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, Philistia, all of thee, That broken hath been the rod of thy smiter, For from the root of a serpent cometh out a viper, And its fruit [is] a flying saraph.
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 delighted have the first-born of the poor, And the needy in confidence lie down, And I have put to death with famine thy root, And thy remnant it slayeth.
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.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city, Melted art thou, Philistia, all of thee, For from the north smoke hath come, And there is none alone in his set places.
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 doth one answer the messengers of a nation? 'That Jehovah hath founded Zion, And in it do the poor of His people trust!'