Isaiah 14

New American Standard Bible

Israel’s Taunt

14 When the Lord will ^(A)have compassion on Jacob and again ^(B)choose Israel, and settle them in 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 possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord ^(E)as male servants and female servants; and ^[a]they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.

³And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you ^(F)rest from your pain and turmoil and 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 ^[c]fury has ceased!
⁵“The 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.
⁷“The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They ^(J)break forth into shouts of joy.
⁸“Even the ^(K)cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’
⁹“^(L)Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come;
It arouses for you the ^[e]spirits of the dead, 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 been made weak as we,
You have become like us.
¹¹‘Your ^(N)pomp 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.’
¹²“How you have ^(O)fallen from heaven,
O ^[g]^(P)star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
¹³“But 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.
¹⁴‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
^(S)I will make myself like the Most High.’
¹⁵“Nevertheless you ^(T)will be thrust down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
¹⁶“Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will ^[h]ponder over 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?’
¹⁸“All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
Each in his own ^[j]tomb.
¹⁹“But you have been ^(W)cast out of your tomb
Like ^[k]a rejected branch,
^[l]Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the ^(X)pit
Like a ^(Y)trampled corpse.
²⁰“You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have slain your people.
May the ^(Z)offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.
²¹“Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter
Because of the ^(AA)iniquity of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of 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 ^(AB)name and survivors, ^(AC)offspring and posterity,” declares the Lord. ²³“I will also make it a possession for the ^(AD)hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of ^(AE)destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

Judgment on Assyria

²⁴The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, ^(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 shoulder. ²⁶This is the ^(AI)plan ^[m]devised against the whole earth; and this is the ^(AJ)hand that is stretched out against all the nations. ²⁷For ^(AK)the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

²⁸In the ^(AL)year that King Ahaz died this ^[n]^(AM)oracle came:

Judgment on Philistia

²⁹“Do not rejoice, O ^(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)flying serpent.
³⁰“^[o]Those who are most ^(AR)helpless will eat,
And the needy will lie down in security;
I will ^[p]destroy your root with ^(AS)famine,
And it will kill off your survivors.
³¹“Wail, O ^(AT)gate; cry, O city;
^[q]Melt away, O ^(AU)Philistia, all of you;
For smoke comes from the ^(AV)north,
And ^(AW)there is no straggler in his ranks.
³²“How then will one answer the ^(AX)messengers of the nation?
That ^(AY)the Lord has founded Zion,
And ^(AZ)the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it.”