Isaiah 14:23-25

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

²³I will also make it a possession of the hedgehog and porcupine, and of ^[a]marshes and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.

²⁴The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought and planned, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand—

²⁵That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and upon My mountains I will tread him underfoot. Then shall the [Assyrian’s] ^[b]yoke depart from [the people of Judah], and his burden depart from their shoulders.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Isaiah 14:23 The city of Babylon was in the midst of a very fertile area, and it would have seemed reasonable to suppose that, regardless of what happened to the population, the region would always furnish pasturage for flocks. But Isaiah said it would become the possession of wild animals and would be covered with “marshes and pools of water.” This is how that prophecy was literally fulfilled: after Babylon was taken, the whole area around the city was put under water from neglect of the canals and dikes of the Euphrates River. It became stagnant “marshes and pools of water” among ruins haunted by wild animals, proclaiming to any who might see it that “surely, as [the Lord has] thought and planned, so shall it come to pass” (Isa. 14:24).
Isaiah 14:25 The prophecy against Assyria had actually by this time already been fulfilled, but Isaiah attached it to the as yet unfulfilled prophecy against Babylon as a pledge or guarantee of the fulfillment of the latter.