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Isaiah 14
Living Bible
Isaiah 14
Living Bible
14 But the Lord will have mercy on the Israelis; they are still his special ones. He will bring them back to settle once again in the land of Israel. And many nationalities will come and join them there and be their loyal allies. 2 The nations of the world will help them to return, and those coming to live in their land will serve them. Those enslaving Israel will be enslaved—Israel shall rule her enemies!
3 In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, 4 you will jeer at the king of Babylon and say, “You bully, you! At last you have what was coming to you! 5 For the Lord has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule.” 6 You persecuted my people with unceasing blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip. You were unrestrained in tyranny. 7 But at last the whole earth is at rest and is quiet! All the world begins to sing! 8 Even the trees of the woods—the fir trees and cedars of Lebanon—sing out this joyous song: “Your power is broken; no one will bother us now; at last we have peace.”
9 The denizens of hell crowd to meet you as you enter their domain. World leaders and earth’s mightiest kings, long dead, are there to see you. 10 With one voice they all cry out, “Now you are as weak as we are!” 11 Your might and power are gone; they are buried with you. All the pleasant music in your palace has ceased; now maggots are your sheet, worms your blanket!
12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground—mighty though you were against the nations of the world. 13 For you said to yourself, “I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels.[a] I will take the highest throne. I will preside on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.” 15 But instead, you will be brought down to the pit of hell, down to its lowest depths. 16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask, “Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? 17 Can this be the one who destroyed the world and made it into a shambles, who demolished its greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?”
18 The kings of the nations lie in stately glory in their graves, 19 but your body is thrown out like a broken branch; it lies in an open grave, covered with the dead bodies of those slain in battle. It lies as a carcass in the road, trampled and mangled by horses’ hoofs. 20 No monument will be given you, for you have destroyed your nation and slain your people. Your son will not succeed you as the king. 21 Slay the children of this sinner. Do not let them rise and conquer the land nor rebuild the cities of the world.
22 I, myself, have risen against him, says the Lord of heaven’s armies, and will cut off his children and his children’s children from ever sitting on his throne. 23 I will make Babylon into a desolate land of porcupines, full of swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of the armies of heaven. 24 He has taken an oath to do it! For this is his purpose and plan. 25 I have decided to break the Assyrian army when they are in Israel and to crush them on my mountains; my people shall no longer be their slaves. 26 This is my plan for the whole earth—I will do it by my mighty power that reaches everywhere around the world. 27 The Lord, the God of battle, has spoken—who can change his plans? When his hand moves, who can stop him?
28 This is the message that came to me the year King Ahaz died:
29 Don’t rejoice, Philistines, that the king who smote you is dead.[b] That rod is broken, yes; but his son will be a greater scourge to you than his father ever was! From the snake will be born an adder, a fiery serpent to destroy you! 30 I will shepherd the poor of my people; they shall graze in my pasture! The needy shall lie down in peace. But as for you—I will wipe you out with famine and the sword. 31 Weep, Philistine cities—you are doomed. All your nation is doomed. For a perfectly trained army[c] is coming down from the north against you. 32 What then shall we tell the reporters? Tell them that the Lord has founded Jerusalem and is determined that the poor of his people will find a refuge within her walls.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:13 the angels, literally, “the stars of God.” I will preside on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north, literally, “I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north” (see Psalm 48:2) or “on the slopes of Mount Saphon.”
- Isaiah 14:29 the king who smote you is dead, Shalmaneser V of Assyria.
- Isaiah 14:31 a perfectly trained army, Sargon of Assyria.
Isaiah 14
English Standard Version
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
New International Version
Isaiah 14
New International Version
14 The Lord will have compassion(A) on Jacob;
once again he will choose(B) Israel
and will settle them in their own land.(C)
Foreigners(D) will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
2 Nations will take them
and bring(E) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(F)
and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(G) of their captors
and rule over their oppressors.(H)
3 On the day the Lord gives you relief(I) from your suffering and turmoil(J) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(K) 4 you will take up this taunt(L) against the king of Babylon:(M)
How the oppressor(N) has come to an end!
How his fury[a] has ended!
5 The Lord has broken the rod(O) of the wicked,(P)
the scepter(Q) of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples(R)
with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(S) nations
with relentless aggression.(T)
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace;(U)
they break into singing.(V)
8 Even the junipers(W) and the cedars of Lebanon
gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.”(X)
9 The realm of the dead(Y) below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(Z) to greet you—
all those who were leaders(AA) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.(AB)
10 They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”(AC)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(AD)
along with the noise of your harps;(AE)
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms(AF) cover you.(AG)
12 How you have fallen(AH) from heaven,
morning star,(AI) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!(AJ)
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend(AK) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(AL)
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(AM)
on the utmost heights(AN) of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(AO)
I will make myself like the Most High.”(AP)
15 But you are brought down(AQ) to the realm of the dead,(AR)
to the depths(AS) of the pit.(AT)
16 Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:(AU)
“Is this the man who shook(AV) the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(AW)
who overthrew(AX) its cities
and would not let his captives go home?”(AY)
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.(AZ)
19 But you are cast out(BA) of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(BB)
with those pierced by the sword,(BC)
those who descend to the stones of the pit.(BD)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,(BE)
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspring(BF) of the wicked(BG)
never be mentioned(BH) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(BI)
for the sins of their ancestors;(BJ)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
22 “I will rise up(BK) against them,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(BL) and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,(BM)”
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(BN)
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(BO)”
declares the Lord Almighty.(BP)
24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(BQ)
“Surely, as I have planned,(BR) so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(BS)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(BT) in my land;
on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(BU) will be taken from my people,
and his burden removed from their shoulders.(BV)”
26 This is the plan(BW) determined for the whole world;
this is the hand(BX) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(BY) and who can thwart him?
His hand(BZ) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(CA)
A Prophecy Against the Philistines
28 This prophecy(CB) came in the year(CC) King Ahaz(CD) died:
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(CE)
that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(CF)
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(CG)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needy(CH) will lie down in safety.(CI)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(CJ)
it will slay(CK) your survivors.(CL)
31 Wail,(CM) you gate!(CN) Howl, you city!
Melt away, all you Philistines!(CO)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(CP)
and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(CQ)
32 What answer shall be given
to the envoys(CR) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(CS)
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(CT)”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
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