Isaiah 14

New American Standard Bible

Israel’s Taunt against Babylon

14 When the Lord ^(A)has compassion on Jacob and again ^(B)chooses Israel, and settles them on their own land, then ^(C)strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. ²The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the ^(D)house of Israel will make them their own possession in the land of the Lord ^(E)as male and female servants; and ^[a]they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.

³And it will be on the day when the Lord gives you ^(F)rest from your hardship, your turmoil, and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, ⁴that you will ^(G)take up this ^[b]taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,

“How ^(H)the oppressor has ceased,
And how the ^[c]onslaught has ceased!
⁵The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of rulers,
⁶^(I)Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which ^[d]subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
⁷The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They ^(J)break forth into shouts of joy.
⁸Even the ^(K)juniper trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you have been laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’
⁹^(L)Sheol below is excited about you, to meet you when you come;
It stirs the ^[e]spirits of the dead for you, all the ^[f]leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
¹⁰^(M)They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have become weak as we,
You have become like us.
¹¹Your ^(N)pride and the music of your harps
Have been brought down to Sheol;
Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
And worms are your covering.’
¹²How you have ^(O)fallen from heaven,
You ^[g]^(P)star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who defeated the nations!
¹³But you said in your heart,
‘I will ^(Q)ascend to heaven;
I will ^(R)raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
^(S)I will make myself like the Most High.’
¹⁵Nevertheless you ^(T)will be brought down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
¹⁶Those who see you will stare at you,
They will ^[h]closely examine you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷Who made the world like a ^(U)wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who ^(V)did not ^[i]allow his prisoners to go home?’
¹⁸All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
Each in his own ^[j]tomb.
¹⁹But you have been ^(W)hurled out of your tomb
Like ^[k]a rejected branch,
^[l]Clothed with those killed who have been pierced with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the ^(X)pit
Like a ^(Y)trampled corpse.
²⁰You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have killed your people.
May the ^(Z)descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.
²¹Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
Because of the ^(AA)wrongdoing of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the surface of the world with cities.”

²²“I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of armies, “and eliminate from Babylon ^(AB)name and survivors, ^(AC)offspring and descendants,” declares the Lord. ²³“I will also make it the property of the ^(AD)hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of ^(AE)destruction,” declares the Lord of armies.

Judgment on Assyria

²⁴The Lord of armies has sworn, saying, “Certainly, ^(AF)just as I have intended, so it has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand, ²⁵to ^(AG)break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his ^(AH)yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders. ²⁶This is the ^(AI)plan ^[m]devised against the entire earth; and this is the ^(AJ)hand that is stretched out against all the nations. ²⁷For ^(AK)the Lord of armies has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

Judgment on Philistia

²⁸In the ^(AL)year that King Ahaz died, this ^(AM)pronouncement came:

²⁹“Do not rejoice, ^(AN)Philistia, all of you,
Because the rod that ^(AO)struck you is broken;
For from the serpent’s root a ^(AP)viper will come out,
And its fruit will be a ^(AQ)winged serpent.
³⁰^[n]Those who are most ^(AR)helpless will eat,
And the poor will lie down in security;
I will kill your root with ^(AS)famine,
And it will kill your survivors.
³¹Wail, you ^(AT)gate; cry, you city;
^[o]Melt away, ^(AU)Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes from the ^(AV)north,
And ^(AW)there is no straggler in his ranks.
³²What answer will one give the ^(AX)messengers of the nation?
That ^(AY)the Lord has founded Zion,
And ^(AZ)the poor of His people will take refuge in it.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 14:2 Lit the captors will become their captives
Isaiah 14:4 Or proverb
Isaiah 14:4 As in DSS and ancient versions; MT uncertain
Isaiah 14:6 Or ruled
Isaiah 14:9 Or shades (Heb Repha’im)
Isaiah 14:9 Lit male goats
Isaiah 14:12 Heb Helel; i.e., shining one
Isaiah 14:16 Lit show themselves attentive to
Isaiah 14:17 Lit open
Isaiah 14:18 Lit house
Isaiah 14:19 Lit an abhorred branch
Isaiah 14:19 Or As the clothing of those who are slain
Isaiah 14:26 Lit planned
Isaiah 14:30 Lit The firstborn of the helpless
Isaiah 14:31 Or Become demoralized

1 Peter 2

New American Standard Bible

As Newborn Babes

2 Therefore, ^(A)rid yourselves of all ^[a]malice and all deceit and ^[b]hypocrisy and ^[c]envy and all ^[d]^(B)slander, ²^(C)and like newborn babies, long for the ^[e]^(D)pure ^[f]milk of the word, so that by it you may ^(E)grow ^[g]in respect to salvation, ³if you have ^(F)tasted ^[h]^(G)the kindness of the Lord.

As Living Stones

⁴And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been ^(H)rejected by people, but is ^[i]choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵^(I)you also, as living stones, ^[j]are being built up as a ^(J)spiritual house for a holy ^(K)priesthood, to ^(L)offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For this is contained in ^[k]Scripture:

“^(M)Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a ^(N)precious cornerstone,
And the one who believes in ^[l]Him will not be ^[m]put to shame.”

⁷^(O)This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,

“^(P)A stone which the builders ^(Q)rejected,
This became the ^[n]chief cornerstone,”

⁸and,

“^(R)A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

^(S)for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, ^(T)and to this they were also appointed.

⁹But you are ^(U)a chosen people, a royal ^(V)priesthood, a ^(W)holy nation, ^(X)a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you ^(Y)out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰^(Z)for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹^(AA)Beloved, ^(AB)I urge you as ^(AC)foreigners and strangers to abstain from ^(AD)fleshly lusts, which wage ^(AE)war against the soul. ¹²^(AF)Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they ^(AG)slander you as evildoers, they may ^[o]because of your good deeds, as they observe them, ^(AH)glorify God ^(AI)on the day of ^[p]visitation.

Honor Authority

¹³^(AJ)Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, ¹⁴or to governors as sent ^[q]by him ^(AK)for the punishment of evildoers and the ^(AL)praise of those who do right. ¹⁵For ^[r]^(AM)such is the will of God, that by doing right you ^(AN)silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶Act as ^(AO)free people, and ^[s]do not use your freedom as a ^[t]covering for evil, but use it as ^(AP)bond-servants of God. ¹⁷^(AQ)Honor all people, ^(AR)love the brotherhood, ^(AS)fear God, ^(AT)honor the ^[u]king.

¹⁸^(AU)Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and ^(AV)gentle, but also to those who are ^[v]harsh. ¹⁹For this finds favor, if for the sake of ^(AW)conscience toward God a person endures ^[w]grief when suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if ^(AX)when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

Christ Is Our Example

²¹For ^(AY)you have been called for this purpose, ^(AZ)because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you ^(BA)an example, so that you would follow in His steps, ²²He who ^(BB)committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ²³^[x]and while being ^(BC)abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴and He Himself ^[y]^(BD)brought our sins in His body up on the ^[z]^(BE)cross, so that we ^(BF)might die to ^[aa]sin and live for righteousness; ^(BG)by His ^[ab]wounds you were ^(BH)healed. ²⁵For you were ^(BI)continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the ^(BJ)Shepherd and ^[ac]Guardian of your souls.