< Isaiah 14 >
1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will again make choice of Israel, and replace them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined unto them, and they shall attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
And the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and they shall rest on their land: and the stranger shall be added to them, yes, shall be added to the house of Jacob.
2 And nations shall take them, and bring them to their own place; but the house of Israel shall obtain possession of them in the land of the Lord for men-servants and for maid-servants; and they shall take captive their captors, and they shall rule over their oppressors.
And the Gentiles shall take them, and bring them into their place: and they shall inherit them, and they shall be multiplied upon the land for servants and handmaidens: and they that took them captives shall become captives [to them]; and they that had lordship over them shall be under [their] rule.
3 And it shall come to pass on the day when the Lord will give thee rest from thy trouble, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall give you rest from your sorrow and vexation, [and from] your hard servitude wherein you did serve them.
4 That thou wilt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath ceased the oppressor! ceased the exactress of gold!
And you shall take up this lamentation against the king of Babylon, How has the extortioner ceased, and the taskmaster ceased!
5 Broken hath the Lord the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of rulers;
The Lord has broken the yoke of sinners, the yoke of princes.
6 He who smote people in wrath, blows without intermission, he that ruled in anger nations, persecuting without restraint.
Having struck a nation in wrath, with an incurable plague, striking a nation with a wrathful plague, which spared [them] not, he rested in quiet.
7 At rest, quiet is all the earth; men break forth into loud song.
All the earth cries aloud with joy:
8 Also, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, the cedars of Lebanon, “Since thou wast laid low, no feller is come up against us.”
the trees also of Libanus rejoice against you, and the cedar of Libanus, [saying], From the time that you have been laid low, no one has come up to cut us down.
9 The nether world from below is in motion concerning thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the departed for thee, all the chief ones of the earth; it hath caused to rise up from their thrones all the kings of nations. (Sheol )
Hell from beneath is provoked to meet you: all the great ones that have ruled over the earth have risen up together against you, they that have raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. (Sheol )
10 They all will commence and say unto thee, “Thou—thou also art become weak like us; similar unto us art thou become!”
All shall answer and say to you, You also have been taken, even as we; and you are numbered amongst us.
11 Into the nether world is brought down thy pride, the clatter of thy psalteries: beneath thee is spread the worm, and thy cover is the moth. (Sheol )
Your glory has come down to Hades, and your great mirth: under you they shall spread corruption, and the worm shall be your covering. (Sheol )
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O morning-star, son of the dawn! how art thou hewn down to the ground, crusher of nations!
How has Lucifer, that rose in the morning, fallen from heaven! He that sent [orders] to all the nations is crushed to the earth.
13 And thou—thou hadst said in thy heart, “Into heaven will I ascend, above the stars of God will I exalt my throne; and I will sit also upon the mount of the assembly, in the farthest end of the north;
But you said in your heart, I will go up to heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit on a lofty mount, on the lofty mountains towards the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be equal to the Most High.”
I will go up above the clouds: I will be like the Most High.
15 But into the nether world shalt thou be brought down, into the lowest depth. (Sheol )
But now you shall go down to hell, even to the foundations of the earth. (Sheol )
16 They that see thee will gaze at thee, will regard thee well, [saying, ] “Is this the man that caused the earth to tremble, that made kingdoms quake?
They that see you shall wonder at you, and say, This is the man that troubled the earth, that made kings to shake;
17 That rendered the world as a wilderness, and pulled down its cities: never opened the prison-house of his prisoners?”
that made the whole world desolate, and destroyed its cities; he loosed not those who were in captivity.
18 All the kings of nations, all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own [eternal] house.
All the kings of the nations lie in honour, [every] man in his house.
19 But thou—thou art cast out of thy grave like a discarded offshoot, as a garment of those that are slain, pierced by the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under foot.
But you shall be cast forth on the mountains, as a loathed carcase, with many dead who have been pierced with swords, going down to the grave.
20 Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; because thy land hast thou destroyed, thy people hast thou slain: to eternity shall not be called the seed of evil-doers.
As a garment defiled with blood shall not be pure, so neither shall you be pure; because you have destroyed my land, and have slain my people: you shall not endure for ever, —[you] an evil seed.
21 Prepare for his children the slaughter, for the iniquity of their fathers: that they may not rise, and possess the land, and fill the face of the world with enemies [of mankind].
Prepare your children to be slain for the sins of their father; that they arise not, and inherit the earth, nor fill the earth with wars.
22 And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will cut off from Babylon name, and remnant, and son, and grandson, saith the Lord.
And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and I will destroy their name, and remnant, and seed: thus says the Lord.
23 I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.
And I will make the region of Babylon desert, so that hedgehogs shall dwell [there], and it shall come to nothing: and I will make it a pit of clay for destruction.
24 Sworn hath the Lord of hosts, saying, Surely as I have purposed, so doth it come to pass; and as I have resolved, so shall it occur:
Thus says the Lord of hosts, As I have said, so it shall be: and as I have purposed, so [the matter] shall remain:
25 To break Asshur in my own land, and upon my mountains will I tread him under foot; then shall his yoke be removed from off them, and his burden from off their shoulders.
[even] to destroy the Assyrians upon my land, and upon my mountains: and they shall be for trampling; and their yoke shall be taken away from them, and their glory shall be taken away from their shoulders.
26 This is the resolve that is resolved over all the earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
This is the purpose which the Lord has purposed upon the whole earth: and this the hand that is uplifted against all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts hath resolved, and who shall frustrate it? and it is his hand which is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
For what the Holy God has purposed, who shall frustrate? and who shall turn back his uplifted hand?
28 In the year king Achaz died was this prophecy [given].
In the year in which king Achaz died this word came.
29 Rejoice not, thou entire Palestine, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and its fruit shall be a flying dragon.
Rejoice not, all you Philistines, because the yoke of him that struck you is broken: for out of the seed of the serpent shall come forth the young asps, and their young shall come forth flying serpents,
30 And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall rest in safety: and I will kill with famine thy root, and men shall slay thy remnant.
And the poor shall be fed by him, and poor men shall rest in peace: but he shall destroy your seed with hunger, and shall destroy your remnant.
31 Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; thou art dissolved, O thou entire Palestine; for from the north a smoke is coming, and there is no one solitary among those that are bidden to come.
Howl, you gates of cities; let the cities be troubled and cry, [even] all the Philistines: for smoke is coming from the north, and there is no [possibility] of living.
32 And what will each one of the messengers of the nation answer? That the Lord hath founded Zion; and that therein shall find protection the poor of his people.
And what shall the kings of the nations answer? That the Lord has founded Sion, and by him the poor of the people shall be saved.