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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
At that time the Lord will give you relief from your pain and trouble, and from the hard labor you were forced to do.
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!
You will mock the king of Babylon, saying, “How your oppressive rule has been ended, and your insolence stopped!
5 Broken hath the Lord the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of rulers;
The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the rulers' scepter.
6 He who smote people in wrath, blows without intermission, he that ruled in anger nations, persecuting without restraint.
You kept on furiously hitting foreign peoples without stopping, and aggressively ruled nations with unrestrained persecution.
7 At rest, quiet is all the earth; men break forth into loud song.
Now the whole earth rests peacefully, and everyone starts celebrating!
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 cypress and cedar trees are glad you're gone. They sing, ‘Since you were cut down no woodcutters are coming 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 h7585)
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)
10 They all will commence and say unto thee, “Thou—thou also art become weak like us; similar unto us art thou become!”
They will all speak up and tell you, ‘So you too are as weak as we are—you've become just like 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 h7585)
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)
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!
Morning star, son of the dawn, how you have fallen from heaven! Destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground!
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;
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.
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be equal to the Most High.”
I will ascend to the high places above the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are dragged down to the grave, into the depths of the pit. (Sheol h7585)
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?
Those who see you will stare at you, examining you closely, asking, ‘Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble?
17 That rendered the world as a wilderness, and pulled down its cities: never opened the prison-house of his prisoners?”
Is this the one who turned the world into a desert, destroyed cities, and never let his prisoners return home?’
18 All the kings of nations, all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own [eternal] house.
All the other kings of the nations lie in splendor in their great mausoleums.
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 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—
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.
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.
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].
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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:
The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: It will be as I have planned. It will happen as I have decided.
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.
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.
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 plan I have made regarding the whole earth; my hand stretches out to control 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?
The Lord Almighty has made his plan, and who will block it? His hand stretches out, and who will push back against it?
28 In the year king Achaz died was this prophecy [given].
The following message came in the year King Ahaz died.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.”
