Isaiah 14
1 [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.
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 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.
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 Some day Yahweh will free you [Israeli people] from suffering and trouble and from being afraid, and from being cruelly treated as slaves [MTY].
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 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!
you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
5 You evil ruler, Yahweh will get rid of your power, and you will oppress people no longer!
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
6 You attacked people many times because you were very angry with them, and you subdued/conquered [other] nations by causing them to suffer endlessly.
It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
7 [But soon] everything will be quiet and peaceful on the earth. Everyone [PRS] will sing [again]!
All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
8 [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].’
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
9 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)
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 h7585)
10 They will all shout to you [together], ‘Now you are as weak as we are!’
They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
11 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)
Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket. (Sheol h7585)
12 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.
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 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.
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 will ascend above the clouds and become like the highest/greatest god!’
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 [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)
But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (Sheol h7585)
16 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?
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 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?’
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 earth [who have died] were greatly honored when they were buried,
All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
19 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.
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 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.
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 [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]!’”
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 [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.
“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 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.”
“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 Commander of the armies of angels has [also] solemnly promised this: “The things that I have planned will surely happen [DOU].
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
25 [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.
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 I have a plan for everyone on the earth, a plan to show my power [MTY] to punish all the nations.
This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
27 [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].”
The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
28 I received this message [from Yahweh] during the year that King Ahaz died:
In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
29 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.
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 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.
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 [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.
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 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.”
What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
