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 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, 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.
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 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,
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 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?
That you have taken up this allegory Concerning the king of Babylon, and said, “How the exactor has ceased,
5 The Lord has crushed the staff of the impious, the scepter of despots,
The golden one has ceased. YHWH has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers.
6 which struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, which subjugated the nations in fury, which persecuted with cruelty.
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 has become quiet and still; it has been gladdened and has rejoiced.
At rest—all the earth has been quiet, They have broken forth [into] singing.
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 firs have rejoiced over you, Cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since you have lain down, The hewer does not come up 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 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 Everyone will respond and will say to you: “Now you are wounded, just as we were; you have become like us.
All of them answer and say to you, Even you have become weak like us! You have become like to 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 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 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 the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to earth, O weakener 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.
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 ascend above the tops of 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 lean toward you, and will gaze upon you, saying: ‘Could this be the man who disturbed the earth, who shook 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 into a desert and destroyed its cities, who would not even open a prison for his prisoners?’”
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 nations throughout the whole world have slept in glory, each man in his own house.
All kings of nations—all of them, Have lain down in glory, each in his house,
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.
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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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.
“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 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,
YHWH of Hosts has sworn, saying, “As I thought—so has it not been? And as I counseled—it stands;
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.
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 plan that I have decided, concerning the entire earth, and this is the hand which is extended over all the 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 the Lord of hosts has decreed it, and who is able to weaken it? And his hand is extended, so who can avert it?
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 in which king Ahaz died, this burden was given:
In the year of the death of King Ahaz was this burden:
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, 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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!
