Isaiah 14
1 Her time is drawing near, and her days will not be prolonged. For the Lord will take pity on Jacob, and he will still choose from Israel, and he will cause them to rest upon their own soil. And the new arrival will be joined to them, and he will adhere to the house of Jacob.
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.
2 And the people will take them, and lead them to their place. And the house of Israel will possess them, in the land of the Lord, as men and women servants. And they will take captive those who had taken them captive. And they will subjugate their oppressors.
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.
3 And this shall be in that day: when God will have given you rest from your labor, and from your oppression, and from the difficult servitude under which you served before,
On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
4 you will accept this parable against the king of Babylon, and you will say: “How is it that the oppressor has ceased, along with his tribute?
you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
5 The Lord has crushed the staff of the impious, the scepter of despots,
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
6 which struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, which subjugated the nations in fury, which persecuted with cruelty.
It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
7 All the earth has become quiet and still; it has been gladdened and has rejoiced.
All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
8 The evergreens, too, have rejoiced over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying: ‘Since you have slept, no one has ascended who would cut us down.’
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
9 Hell below was stirred up to meet you at your advent; it has awakened the giants for you. All the leaders of the earth have risen from their thrones, all the leaders among the nations.” (Sheol h7585)
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)
10 Everyone will respond and will say to you: “Now you are wounded, just as we were; you have become like us.
They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
11 Your arrogance has been dragged down to Hell. Your body has fallen dead. The moths will be strewn beneath you, and the worms will be your covering. (Sheol h7585)
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)
12 How is it that you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who used to rise like the sun? How is it that you have fallen to the earth, you who wounded the peoples?
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.
13 And you said in your heart: ‘I will climb up to heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be enthroned upon the mountain of the covenant, on the northern parts.
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.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.’
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (Sheol h7585)
16 Those who see you, will lean toward you, and will gaze upon you, saying: ‘Could this be the man who disturbed the earth, who shook kingdoms,
Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,
17 who made the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who would not even open a prison for his prisoners?’”
who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
18 All the kings of the nations throughout the whole world have slept in glory, each man in his own house.
All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
19 But you have been rejected from your grave, like a useless polluted plant, and you have been bound up with those who were slain by the sword, and who descended to the bottom of the pit, like a rotting carcass.
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.
20 You will not be associated with them, even in the grave. For you have destroyed your own land; you have slain your own people. The offspring of the wicked ones will not be called upon for eternity.
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.
21 Prepare his sons for the slaughter, according to the iniquity of their fathers. They will not rise up, nor inherit the earth, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
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.
22 But I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts. And I will perish the name of Babylon and its remnants: both the plant and its progeny, says the Lord.
“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,”
23 And I will appoint it as a possession for the hedgehog, with swamps of water. And I will sweep it out and wear it away with a brush, says the Lord of hosts.
“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.
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying: Surely, just as I have considered it, so shall it be, and in the same manner as I have drawn it through my mind,
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
25 so shall it occur. So shall I crush the Assyrian in my land, and I will trample him upon my mountains, and his yoke will be taken away from them, and his burden will be removed from their shoulder.
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.”
26 This is the plan that I have decided, concerning the entire earth, and this is the hand which is extended over all the nations.
This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has decreed it, and who is able to weaken it? And his hand is extended, so who can avert it?
The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
28 In the year in which king Ahaz died, this burden was given:
In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
29 You should not rejoice, all you of Philistia, that the rod of him who struck you has been crushed. For from the root of the serpent will go forth a king snake, and his offspring will engulf that which flies.
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.
30 And the firstborn of the poor will be pastured, and the poor will rest in faithfulness. And I will cause your root to pass away by famine, and I will put to death your remnant.
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.
31 Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! All of Philistia has been prostrated. For a smoke will arrive from the north, and there is no one who will escape his army.
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.
32 And what will be the response to this news among the nations? It will be that the Lord has established Zion, and that the poor of his people will hope in him.
What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
