< Isaiah 14 >
1 For the Lord wil haue compassion of Iaakob, and wil yet chuse Israel, and cause them to rest in their owne lande: and the stranger shall ioyne him selfe vnto them, and they shall cleaue to the house of Iaakob.
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 shall receiue them and bring them to their owne place, and the house of Israel shall possesse them in the land of the Lord, for seruants and handmaids: and they shall take them prisoners, whose captiues they were, and haue rule ouer their oppressours.
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 in that day when the Lord shall giue thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy feare, and from the sore bodage, wherein thou didest serue,
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 Then shalt thou take vp this prouerbe against the King of Babel, and say, Howe hath the oppressor ceased? and the gold thirsty Babel rested?
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 hath broken the rodde of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers:
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
6 Which smote the people in anger with a continuall plague, and ruled the nations in wrath: if any were persecuted, he did not let.
It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
7 The whole worlde is at rest and is quiet: they sing for ioye.
All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
8 Also the firre trees reioyced of thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid downe, no hewer came vp against vs.
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
9 Hel beneath is mooued for thee to meete thee at thy comming, raising vp the deade for thee, euen all the princes of the earth, and hath raised from their thrones all the Kinges of the nations. (Sheol )
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 )
10 All they shall crie, and saie vnto thee, Art thou become weake also as we? art thou become like vnto vs?
They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
11 Thy pompe is brought downe to ye graue, and the sounde of thy violes: the worme is spred vnder thee, and the wormes couer thee. (Sheol )
Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket. (Sheol )
12 How art thou fallen from heauen, O Lucifer, sonne of the morning? and cutte downe to the grounde, which didest cast lottes vpon the nations?
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 Yet thou saidest in thine heart, I will ascende into heauen, and exalt my throne aboue beside the starres of God: I will sitte also vpon the mount of the Congregation in the sides of the North.
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 wil ascend aboue ye height of the cloudes, and I will be like the most high.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But thou shalt bee brought downe to the graue, to the sides of the pit. (Sheol )
But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (Sheol )
16 They that see thee, shall looke vpon thee and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and that did shake the kingdomes?
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 He made the worlde as a wildernesse, and destroied the cities thereof, and opened not the house of 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, euen they all sleepe in glorie, euery one in his owne house.
All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
19 But thou art cast out of thy graue like an abominable branch: like the raiment of those that are slaine, and thrust thorowe with a sword, which goe downe to the stones of the pit, as a carkeise troden vnder feete.
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 Thou shalt not be ioyned with them in the graue, because thou hast destroied thine owne lande, and slaine thy people: the seede of the wicked shall not be renoumed for euer.
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 a slaughter for his children, for the iniquitie of their fathers: let them not rise vp nor possesse the land, nor fil the face of the world with enemies.
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 For I wil rise vp against them (sayth the Lord of hostes) and will cut off from Babel the name and the remnant and the sonne, and the nephew, sayth 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 wil make it a possession to ye hedgehogge, and pooles of water, and I will sweepe it with the besome of destruction, sayeth the Lord of hostes.
“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 hostes hath sworne, saying, Surely like as I haue purposed, so shall it come to passe, and as I haue consulted, it shall stand:
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
25 That I will breake to pieces Asshur in my land, and vpon my mountaines will I treade him vnder foote: so that his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden shall be taken from off 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 counsell that is consulted vpon the whole worlde, and this is the hande stretched out ouer all the nations,
This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
27 Because the Lord of hostes hath determined it, and who shall disanull it? and his hande is stretched out, and who shall turne it away?
The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
28 In the yeere that King Ahaz died, was this burden.
In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
29 Reioyce not, (thou whole Palestina) because the rod of him that did beat thee, is broken for out of the serpents roote shall come forth a cockatrise, and the fruit therof shalbe a firy flying serpent.
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 For the first borne of the poore shall be fed, and the needie shall lie downe in safetie: and I will kill thy roote with famine, and it shall slay thy 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 Howle, O gate, crie, O citie: thou whole lande of Palestina art dissolued, for there shall come from the North a smoke, and none shalbe alone, at his time appointed.
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 What shall then one answere the messengers of the Gentiles? That the Lord hath stablished Zion, and the poore of his people shall trust in it.
What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”