Isaiah 14:3-23
New American Standard Bible
3 And it will be on the day when the Lord gives you (A)rest from your hardship, your turmoil, and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, 4 that you will (B)take up this [a]taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How (C)the oppressor has ceased,
And how the [b]onslaught has ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of rulers,
6 (D)Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which [c]subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They (E)break forth into shouts of joy.
8 Even the (F)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 (G)Sheol below is excited about you, to meet you when you come;
It stirs the [d]spirits of the dead for you, all the [e]leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
10 (H)They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have become weak as we,
You have become like us.
11 Your (I)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.’
12 How you have (J)fallen from heaven,
You [f](K)star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who defeated the nations!
13 But you said in your heart,
‘I will (L)ascend to heaven;
I will (M)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;
(N)I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 Nevertheless you (O)will be brought down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you,
They will [g]closely examine you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world like a (P)wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who (Q)did not [h]allow his prisoners to go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
Each in his own [i]tomb.
19 But you have been (R)hurled out of your tomb
Like [j]a rejected branch,
[k]Clothed with those killed who have been pierced with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the (S)pit
Like a (T)trampled corpse.
20 You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have killed your people.
May the (U)descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.
21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
Because of the (V)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 (W)name and survivors, (X)offspring and descendants,” declares the Lord. 23 “I will also make it the property of the (Y)hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of (Z)destruction,” declares the Lord of armies.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 14:3-23
Christian Standard Bible
Downfall of the King of Babylon
3 When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,(A) torment, and the hard labor(B) you were forced to do, 4 you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon(C) 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 The whole earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
8 Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:(D)
“Since you have been laid low,
no lumberjack has come against us.”
9 Sheol below is eager to greet your coming,
stirring up the spirits of the departed for you—
all the rulers[b] of the earth—
making 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](E)
how you have fallen from the heavens!(F)
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13 You said to yourself,
“I will ascend to the heavens;(G)
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.(H)
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.[d](I)
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.(J)
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,(K)
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 mentioned again.(L)
21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons,
because of the iniquity(M) of their ancestors.
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 Armies—“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 herons,[e] and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
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The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.