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 YHWH loves Jacob, And has fixed again on Israel, And given them rest on their own land, And the sojourner has been joined to them, And they have been admitted 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 peoples have taken them, And have brought them to their place, And the house of Israel has inherited them, On the land of YHWH, For menservants and for maidservants, And they have been captors of their captors, And have ruled over their exactors.
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 has come to pass, In the day of YHWH’s giving rest to you, From your grief, and from your trouble, And from the sharp bondage, That has been served on you,
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 you have taken up this allegory Concerning the king of Babylon, and said, “How the exactor has ceased,
5 The stick of the evil-doers, the rod of the rulers, is broken by the Lord;
The golden one has ceased. YHWH has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter 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 is striking peoples in wrath, A striking without intermission, He who is ruling nations in anger, Pursuing without restraint!
7 All the earth is at rest and is quiet: they are bursting into song.
At rest—all the earth has been quiet, They have broken forth [into] singing.
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.
Even firs have rejoiced over you, Cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since you have lain down, The hewer does not 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)
Sheol beneath has been troubled at you, To meet your coming in, It is waking up Rephaim for you, All chief ones of earth, It has raised up from their thrones All 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?
All of them answer and say to you, Even you have become weak like us! You have become like to us!
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)
Your excellence has been brought down to Sheol, The noise of your stringed instruments, The worm has been spread out under you, Indeed, the worm is covering you. (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 you have fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to earth, O weakener 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 you said in your heart: I go up into the heavens, I raise my throne above the stars of God, And I sit on the mountain of meeting in the sides of the north.
14 I will go higher than the clouds; I will be like the Most High.
I go up above the heights of a thick cloud, I am like to the Most High.
Only—you are brought down to Sheol, To the sides of the pit. (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?
Your beholders look to you, they attend to you, Is this the man causing the earth to tremble, Shaking kingdoms?
17 Who made the world a waste, overturning its towns; who did not let his prisoners loose from the prison-house.
He has made the world as a wilderness, And he has broken down his cities, He did not open the house of his bound ones.
18 All the kings of the earth are at rest in glory, every man in his house,
All kings of nations—all of them, Have lain down in glory, each in his 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.
And you have been cast out of your grave, As an abominable branch, raiment of the slain, Thrust through ones of the sword, Going down to the sons of the pit, As a carcass trodden down.
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.
You are not united with them in burial, For you have destroyed your land, You have slain your people, The seed of evildoers is not named for all time.
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 slaughter for his sons; Because of the iniquity of their fathers, They do not rise, nor have possessed the land, Nor filled the face of the world [with] cities.
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 have risen up against them,” A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, “And have cut off, in reference to Babylon, Name and remnant, and continuator and successor,” A declaration of YHWH.
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.
“And have made it for a possession of a hedgehog, And ponds of waters, And swept it with the broom of destruction,” A declaration of YHWH of Hosts!
24 The Lord has taken an oath, saying, My design will certainly come about, and my purpose will be effected:
YHWH of Hosts has sworn, saying, “As I thought—so has it not been? And as I counseled—it stands;
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 land, And I tread him down on My mountain, And his yoke has turned from off them, Indeed, his burden turns aside from off their shoulder.
26 This is the purpose for all the earth: and this is the hand stretched out over all nations.
This [is] the counsel that is counseled for all the earth, And this [is] the hand that is stretched out for 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 YHWH of Hosts has purposed, And who makes void? And His hand that is stretched out, Who turns it back?”
28 In the year of the death of King Ahaz this word came to the prophet:
In the year of the death of King Ahaz was this burden:
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.
“Do not rejoice, Philistia, all of you, That the rod of your striker has been broken, For from the root of a serpent comes out a viper, And its fruit [is] a flying, burning serpent.
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 firstborn of the poor have delighted, And the needy lie down in confidence, And I have put to death your root with famine, And it slays your 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.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city, You are melted, Philistia, all of you, For smoke has come from the north, And there is none alone in his set places.”
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 does one answer the messengers of a nation? That YHWH has founded Zion, And the poor of His people take refuge in it!
