Isaiah 14
1 For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, And will yet choose Israel, And will give them rest upon their own soil, —And the sojourner, shall join himself, unto them, And they shall attach themselves unto the house of Jacob;
[But] Yahweh will act mercifully toward the Israeli people; he will choose [the people of] Israel [to be his people again], and he will allow them to [return here and] live in their own land again. Then people from [many] other countries will come here and unite with the Israeli people.
2 And peoples shall take them, and bring them into their own place, And the house of Israel shall possess themselves of them upon the soil of Yahweh for servants and for handmaids, —Thus shall they be taking captive their captors, And shall tread down their oppressors.
People of other nations will help them to return to their [own] land, and those who come from other countries will (work for/become the servants of) the Israeli people. Those who captured people of Israel will be captured by Israeli soldiers, and the people of Israel will rule over the people who [previously] oppressed them.
3 And it shall come to pass, in the day when Yahweh shall give thee rest from thy toil, and from thy disquiet, —and from the hard service which had been laid upon thee,
Some day Yahweh will free you [Israeli people] from suffering and trouble and from being afraid, and from being cruelly treated as slaves [MTY].
4 that thou shalt take up this taunt over the king of Babylon, and shalt say: —How hath ceased the oppressor! Ceased the exactress!
When that happens, you will make fun of the King of Babylon by saying this: “You treated us cruelly, but that has ended! Your insolently causing others to suffer is finished!
5 Broke hath Yahweh the staff of the lawless, —The sceptre of despots;
You evil ruler, Yahweh will get rid of your power, and you will oppress people no longer!
6 Smiting peoples in passion With stroke unremitting, —Trampling, in anger, on nations, Persecution unhindered.
You attacked people many times because you were very angry with them, and you subdued/conquered [other] nations by causing them to suffer endlessly.
7 Quiet, at rest, the whole earth, —Men have burst into shouting!
[But soon] everything will be quiet and peaceful on the earth. Everyone [PRS] will sing [again]!
8 Yea the pine-trees, make mirth at thee, Cedars of Lebanon, Since thou wast laid low, No feller hath come up against us!
[It will be as though] even the trees in the forests will joyfully sing this song, the cyprus/pine [trees] and the cedar [trees] in Lebanon will sing it: ‘You (have been overthrown/are no longer a ruler), and now no one comes to get rid of us [MET].’
9 Hades beneath, is excited about thee To meet thine arrival, —Rousing up, for thee Shades, All the he-goats of earth! Maketh rise from their thrones, All the kings of the nations. (Sheol h7585)
The dead people are [PRS] are eagerly waiting for you to come to the place where they are. The spirits of the world leaders will be delighted to welcome you; those who were kings of many nations [before they died] will stand up [to welcome you]. (Sheol h7585)
10 All of them, answer, and say to thee, —Thou too, made strengthless, as we! Unto us, art thou like!
They will all shout to you [together], ‘Now you are as weak as we are!’
11 Brought down to Hades, thy pride. The hum of thy harps, Beneath thee, is spread out corruption, And, thy coverlet—worms! (Sheol h7585)
You were very proud and powerful, [but all] that ended when you died, along with the sounds of harps [being played in your palace]. [Now in your grave] maggots will be under you [like a sheet] [MET], and worms will cover you [like a blanket] [MET]. (Sheol h7585)
12 How hast thou fallen from heaven, O Shining One—Son of the Dawn! Hewn down to the earth, O crusher of nations!
You have [disappeared from the earth like] [MET] a star which has fallen from the sky; you [were very well-known] [like] [MET] the morning star [which is seen by everyone]; you destroyed [many] nations, but now you have been destroyed.
13 Yet, thou, didst say in thy heart—The heavens, will I ascend, Above the stars of GOD, will I lift up my throne, —That I may sit in the Mount of Assembly In the Recesses of the North:
You [proudly] said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven, to my throne above God’s stars. I will rule on the mountain where [the gods] gather together, far in the north.
14 I will mount on the hills of the clouds, I will match the Most High!
I will ascend above the clouds and become like the highest/greatest god!’
[But you were not able to do that]; instead, you were carried down to your grave, and you went to the place where the dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
16 They who see thee, upon thee, will gaze, Upon thee, will thoughtfully muse, —Is this the man who startled the earth? Who terrified kingdoms?
The [other dead] people there stare at you; they wonder what happened to you. [They say], ‘Is this the man who caused the earth to shake and caused the [people in many] kingdoms to tremble?
17 Who made the world like a desert? And its cities, brake down? Its prisoners, he loosed not, Each one to his home?
Is this the man who [tried to] cause the world to become a desert, who conquered its cities and did not allow the people whom he captured to return to their homes?’
18 All the kings of the nations—they all, are lying in state Each one in his crypt;
All the kings of the earth [who have died] were greatly honored when they were buried,
19 But, thou, art flung out from thy grave, Like a scion detested, Beshrouded with slain, the pierced of the sword, Like a carcase trod underfoot:
but your [corpse will] not be buried; it will be thrown away like [SIM] a worthless branch [of a tree]. Your corpse will be under a heap of other corpses of soldiers that were killed by [their enemies’] swords, and [their corpses] were not buried; you will be with those who have gone down to the stony ground in a big pit.
20 As for them who go down to the stones of the Pit, Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; For thy land, thou didst ruin Thy people, didst slay, —Unnamed to times age-abiding, Be the seed of the wicked!
Your [corpse] will not be buried because you have destroyed your nation and have caused your people to be killed. The descendants of wicked people [like you] will never be honored again.
21 Prepare—for his sons—shambles. For the iniquity of their fathers, —They shall not rise nor possess the earth, Nor fill the face of the world with cities.
[People will say], ‘Slaughter this man’s children because of the sins that their ancestors committed! Do not allow them to become rulers and conquer [all the nations in] the world, and fill the world with the cities [that they rule]!’”
22 I will rise. Then. against them, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, —And will cut off from Babylon Record and remnant And scion and seed, Declareth Yahweh.
[This is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says: “I [myself] will cause Babylon to be conquered. I will get rid of Babylon and its people and their descendants.
23 And will make her a possession for the bittern, And marshes of water, —And will sweep it with the besom of destruction, Declareth Yahweh of hosts.
I will cause Babylon to be a place where owls live, a place full of swamps; I will get rid of it completely [as though] [MET] I were sweeping it with a broom. [That is what I], the Commander of the armies of angels, say.”
24 Yahweh of hosts, hath sworn, saying, —Surely as I intended, so, hath it come to pass, And as I purposed, the same, shall stand: —
The Commander of the armies of angels has [also] solemnly promised this: “The things that I have planned will surely happen [DOU].
25 That I will break in pieces the Assyrian in my land, Yea upon my mountains, will I tread him underfoot, —So shall be removed from off them his yoke, And his burden, from off their shoulder shall be removed.
[When the army of] Assyria is in my land [of Israel], I will crush them. [It will be as though] I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be the slaves [MET] of the people of Assyria; [it will be as though] [MET] I will take away the burdens that are on their shoulders.
26 This, is the purpose that is purposed upon all the earth, —And, this, the hand outstretched over all the nations;
I have a plan for everyone on the earth, a plan to show my power [MTY] to punish all the nations.
27 For, Yahweh of hosts, hath purposed, —And who shall frustrate? And, his, is the hand outstretched, And who shall turn it back?
[I], the Commander of the armies of angels, have spoken, and no one can [RHQ] change my mind. When I raise my fist [to strike Assyria], no one [RHQ] will be able to stop me [from doing that].”
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, came this oracle: —
I received this message [from Yahweh] during the year that King Ahaz died:
29 Do not rejoice, Philistia, any of thee, In that the rod of him that smote thee, is broken, —For, out of the root of the serpent, shall come forth, a viper, And his fruit be a fiery dragon that flieth.
You people of Philistia, do not rejoice that the enemy army [MET] that attacked you has been defeated and that their king is dead. He was [as dangerous as] [MET] a snake, but there will be another king, who will be more [dangerous] than a cobra; he will be [like] [MET] a quick-moving poisonous snake.
30 Then shall feed the firstborn of the poor, And the needy, in confidence lie down, —And I will kill with famine thy root, And thy residue, shall be slain.
Those of my people who are very poor will take care of their flocks of sheep, and the needy people will lie down safely, but I will cause you people [of Philistia] who are still alive [DOU] to die from famine.
31 Howl—O gate, Make outcry—O city, Dispersed art thou Philistia, all of thee, —For out of the north, a smoke cometh in, With no straggler in his ranks.
[So], you people of Philistia, wail at the gates of your cities! You should be extremely afraid, because [a very powerful army] will come from the north [to attack you]; [their chariots will stir up the dust like] [MET] a cloud of smoke. Each of their soldiers is ready to fight.
32 What, then, shall one answer the messengers of a nation? That Yahweh, hath founded Zion, And in her, shall seek refuge the oppressed of his people.
If messengers [from Philistia] come to us [Israeli people], this is what we must [RHQ] tell them: “Yahweh has established Jerusalem, [not Philistia], and his people who are oppressed will be safe inside [the walls of] Jerusalem.”
