Isaiah 14
English Standard Version
The Restoration of Jacob
14 (A)For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and (B)will set them in their own land, and (C)sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 And (D)the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord's land (E)as male and female slaves.[a] (F)They will take captive those who were their captors, (G)and rule over those who oppressed them.
Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon
3 When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4 you will take up this (H)taunt against the king of Babylon:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
(I)the insolent fury[b] ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the (J)staff of the wicked,
the (K)scepter of rulers,
6 (L)that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
(M)they break forth into singing.
8 (N)(O)The cypresses rejoice at you,
(P)the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
10 (Q)All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.
12 “How (R)you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, (S)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
(T)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
(U)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;[c]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 (V)But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
and ponder over you:
‘Is this (W)the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
and overthrew its cities,
(X)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;[d]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
(Y)clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land,
you have slain your people.
“May (Z)the offspring of evildoers
nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons
(AA)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
and fill the face of the world with cities.”
22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and (AB)remnant, (AC)descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the (AD)hedgehog,[e] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.
An Oracle Concerning Assyria
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
(AE)“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,
25 that (AF)I will break the Assyrian in my land,
and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
and (AG)his yoke shall depart from them,
and (AH)his burden from their shoulder.”
26 This is the purpose that is purposed
concerning the whole earth,
and this is (AI)the hand that is stretched out
over all the nations.
27 (AJ)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?
(AK)His hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?
An Oracle Concerning Philistia
28 In the year that (AL)King Ahaz died came this (AM)oracle:
29 Rejoice not, (AN)O Philistia, all of you,
that (AO)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
and its fruit will be a (AP)flying fiery serpent.
30 And the firstborn of (AQ)the poor will graze,
and (AR)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
and your remnant it will slay.
31 (AS)Wail, O (AT)gate; cry out, O city;
melt in fear, (AU)O Philistia, all of you!
(AV)For smoke comes out of the north,
and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
(AW)“The Lord has founded Zion,
and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:2 Or servants
- Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain
- Isaiah 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon
- Isaiah 14:18 Hebrew house
- Isaiah 14:23 Possibly porcupine, or owl
Isaiah 14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s Return
14 For the Lord will have compassion(A) on Jacob and will choose Israel again.(B) He will settle them on their own land.(C) The foreigner will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.(D) 2 The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.(E) They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.
Downfall of the King of Babylon
3 When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,(F) torment, and the hard labor(G) you were forced to do, 4 you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon(H) and say:
How the oppressor has quieted down,
and how the raging[a] has become quiet!
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers.
6 It struck the peoples in anger
with unceasing blows.
It subdued the nations in rage
with relentless persecution.
7 All the earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
8 Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:(I)
“Since you have been laid low,
no woodcutter has come against us.”
9 Sheol below is eager to greet your coming.
He stirs up the spirits of the departed for you—
all the rulers[b] of the earth.
He makes all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10 They all respond to you, saying:
“You too have become as weak as we are;
you have become like us!
11 Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out under you,
and worms cover you.”
12 Shining morning star,[c](J)
how you have fallen from the heavens!(K)
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13 You said to yourself:
“I will ascend to the heavens;(L)
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.(M)
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.[d](N)
14 I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit.(O)
16 Those who see you will stare at you;
they will look closely at you:
“Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17 who turned the world into a wilderness,(P)
who destroyed its cities
and would not release the prisoners to return home?”
18 All the kings of the nations
lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.
19 But you are thrown out without a grave,
like a worthless branch,
covered by those slain with the sword
and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.
20 You will not join them in burial,
because you destroyed your land
and slaughtered your own people.
The offspring of evildoers
will never be remembered.(Q)
21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons,
because of the iniquity(R) of their fathers.
They will never rise up to possess a land
or fill the surface of the earth with cities.
22 “I will rise up against them”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and I will cut off from Babylon her reputation, remnant, offspring, and posterity”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 23 “I will make her a swampland and a region for screech owls,[e] and I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction.”
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
Assyria Will Be Destroyed
24 The Lord of Hosts has sworn:
As I have purposed, so it will be;
as I have planned it, so it will happen.(S)
25 I will break Assyria(T) in My land;
I will tread him down on My mountain.
Then his yoke will be taken from them,
and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the plan(U) prepared
for the whole earth,
and this is the hand stretched out
against all the nations.
27 The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it;
therefore, who can stand in its way?
It is His hand that is outstretched,
so who can turn it back?
An Oracle against Philistia
28 In the year that King Ahaz died,(V) this oracle came:(W)
29 Don’t rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you(X) is broken.
For a viper will come from the root[f] of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.(Y)
30 Then the firstborn(Z) of the poor will be well fed,
and the impoverished will lie down in safety,
but I will kill your root with hunger,
and your remnant will be slain.[g]
31 Wail, you gates!(AA) Cry out, city!
Tremble with fear,(AB) all Philistia!
For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,(AC)
and there is no one missing from the invader’s ranks.
32 What answer will be given to the messengers from that nation?
The Lord has founded Zion,(AD)
and His afflicted people find refuge in her.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:4 DSS; Hb uncertain
- Isaiah 14:9 Lit rams
- Isaiah 14:12 Or Day Star, son of the dawn
- Isaiah 14:13 Or of Zaphon
- Isaiah 14:23 Or hedgehogs
- Isaiah 14:29 Or stock
- Isaiah 14:30 DSS, Syr, Tg; MT reads and he will kill
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