Isaiah 14
1 But the Lord will be merciful to the descendants of Jacob. Once again he will choose Israel and he will bring them back to live once more in their own land. Foreigners will come and join them there, and they will unite with the descendants of Jacob.
For Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
2 Nations will go with them and escort them to their own land. The foreigners who stay in the Lord's land will serve the Israelites. In this way the captors become their captives, and they rule over their former oppressors.
And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Jehovah for servants and for handmaids: and they shall take them captive whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 At that time the Lord will give you relief from your pain and trouble, and from the hard labor you were forced to do.
And it shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve,
4 You will mock the king of Babylon, saying, “How your oppressive rule has been ended, and your insolence stopped!
that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the rulers' scepter.
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers;
6 You kept on furiously hitting foreign peoples without stopping, and aggressively ruled nations with unrestrained persecution.
that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.
7 Now the whole earth rests peacefully, and everyone starts celebrating!
The whole earth is at rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing.
8 The cypress and cedar trees are glad you're gone. They sing, ‘Since you were cut down no woodcutters are coming to cut us down!’
Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, [and] the cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us.
9 Those in the grave beneath are keen to meet you when you arrive. It wakes the spirits of the dead to welcome you, those of all the rulers of the earth. All the kings of the nations stand up from their thrones. (Sheol h7585)
Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. (Sheol h7585)
10 They will all speak up and tell you, ‘So you too are as weak as we are—you've become just like us!
All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
11 Your pride is now buried with you in the grave, along with the harp music you loved. Maggots are the bed you lie on, and worms are your blanket.’ (Sheol h7585)
Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee. (Sheol h7585)
12 Morning star, son of the dawn, how you have fallen from heaven! Destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground!
How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!
13 You said to yourself: ‘I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the mountain of meeting, the summit of the northern mountain.
And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north;
14 I will ascend to the high places above the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. (Sheol h7585)
16 Those who see you will stare at you, examining you closely, asking, ‘Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble?
They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, [saying], Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
17 Is this the one who turned the world into a desert, destroyed cities, and never let his prisoners return home?’
that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home?
18 All the other kings of the nations lie in splendor in their great mausoleums.
All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house.
19 But you are thrown out of your grave like a branch nobody wants, buried underneath the bodies of those killed by the sword. You are like a corpse trodden underfoot. You are tossed into a pit full of rocks—
But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot.
20 you will not be buried like those other kings because you destroyed your own land and killed your own people. The descendants of those who do evil will never survive.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever.
21 Get ready to execute his sons because of their fathers' sins. Don't let them take over the earth; don't let them fill the whole world with their cities.
Prepare ye slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.
22 I will come and attack them, declares the Lord Almighty. I will destroy everything: their reputation, those who remain, their children, and their descendants, says the Lord.
And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son, saith Jehovah.
23 I will make Babylon into a place for water birds and into marshland. I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction, declares the Lord Almighty.”
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
24 The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: It will be as I have planned. It will happen as I have decided.
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
25 I will smash the Assyrians when they are in my country Israel; I will trample them underfoot on my mountains. I will remove their yoke from my people, and take away the burdens they place on my people's shoulders.
that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder.
26 This is the plan I have made regarding the whole earth; my hand stretches out to control all the nations.
This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27 The Lord Almighty has made his plan, and who will block it? His hand stretches out, and who will push back against it?
For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall annul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28 The following message came in the year King Ahaz died.
In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29 All you Philistines, don't celebrate the fact that the rod that was hitting you is broken, because from the root of that snake will grow up a viper, its fruit will be a flying serpent.
Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
30 The poor will have food, and the needy will live in safety, but you Philistines will die in a famine, and I will kill those who survive.
And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill thy root with famine, and thy remnant shall be slain.
31 Howl, gates! Weep, town! Melt away in feat, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke is approaching from the north—an army with no soldier hanging back.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What will be the answer given to the messengers from that nation? “The Lord was the one who laid the foundations of Zion, and that's where his suffering people will be kept safe.”
What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah hath founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge.
