Isaiah 14
1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will again make Israel his special people, and will put them in their land; and the man from a strange country will take his place among them and be joined to the family 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 And the people will take them with them to their place: and the children of Israel will give them a heritage in the Lord's land as men-servants and women-servants, making them prisoners whose prisoners they were; and they will be rulers over their masters.
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 And it will be, in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your trouble, and from the hard yoke which they had put on you,
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 That you will take up this bitter song against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the cruel overseer come to an end! He who was lifted up in pride is cut off;
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 stick of the evil-doers, the rod of the rulers, is broken by the Lord;
Broken hath the Lord the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of rulers;
6 He whose rod was on the peoples with an unending wrath, ruling the nations in passion, with an uncontrolled rule.
He who smote people in wrath, blows without intermission, he that ruled in anger nations, persecuting without restraint.
7 All the earth is at rest and is quiet: they are bursting into song.
At rest, quiet is all the earth; men break forth into loud song.
8 Even the trees of the wood are glad over you, the trees of Lebanon, saying, From the time of your fall no wood-cutter has come up against us with an axe.
Also, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, the cedars of Lebanon, “Since thou wast laid low, no feller is come up against us.”
9 The underworld is moved at your coming: the shades of the dead are awake before you, even the strong ones of the earth; all the kings of the world have got up from their seats. (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 all make answer and say to you, Have you become feeble like us? have you been made even as we are?
They all will commence and say unto thee, “Thou—thou also art become weak like us; similar unto us art thou become!”
11 Your pride has gone down into the underworld, and the noise of your instruments of music; the worms are under you, and your body is covered with them. (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 great is your fall from heaven, O shining one, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the earth, low among the dead bodies!
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 For you said in your heart, I will go up to heaven, I will make my seat higher than the stars of God; I will take my place on the mountain of the meeting-place of the gods, in the inmost parts 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 go higher than the clouds; I will be 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 be looking on you with care, they will be in deep thought, saying, Is this the troubler of the earth, the shaker of kingdoms?
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 made the world a waste, overturning its towns; who did not let his prisoners loose from the prison-house.
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 earth are at rest in glory, every man in his house,
All the kings of nations, all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own [eternal] house.
19 But you, like a birth before its time, are stretched out with no resting-place in the earth; clothed with the bodies of the dead who have been put to the sword, who go down to the lowest parts of the underworld; a dead body, crushed under foot.
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 As for your fathers, you will not be united with them in their resting-place, because you have been the cause of destruction to your land, and of death to your people; the seed of the evil-doer will have no place in the memory of man.
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 Make ready a place of death for his children, because of the evil-doing of their father; so that they may not come up and take the earth for their heritage, covering the face of the world with waste places.
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 For I will come up against them, says the Lord of armies, cutting off from Babylon name and offspring, son and son's son, says the Lord.
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 And I will make you a heritage for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will go through it with the brush of destruction, says the Lord of armies.
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 has taken an oath, saying, My design will certainly come about, and my purpose will be effected:
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 To let the Assyrian be broken in my land, and crushed under foot on my mountains: there will his yoke be taken away from them, and his rule over them come to an end.
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 purpose for all the earth: and this is the hand stretched out over all 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 For it is the purpose of the Lord of armies, and who will make it of no effect? when his hand is stretched out, by whom may it be turned 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 of the death of King Ahaz this word came to the prophet:
In the year king Achaz died was this prophecy [given].
29 Be not glad, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod which was on you is broken: for out of the snake's root will come a poison-snake, and its fruit will be a winged poison-snake.
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 And the poorest of the land will have food, and those in need will be given a safe resting-place: but your seed will come to an end for need of food, and the rest of you will be put to the sword.
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 Send out a cry, O door! Make sounds of sorrow, O town! All your land has come to nothing, O Philistia; for there comes a smoke out of the north, and everyone keeps his place in the line.
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, then, will my people give to the representatives of the nation? That the Lord is the builder of Zion, and she will be a safe place for the poor of his people.
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.
