Isaiah 14:1-11

Easy-to-Read Version

Israel Will Return Home

14 The Lord will again show his love to Jacob. He will again choose the people of Israel. He will give them their land. Then the non-Israelites^[a] will join the Israelites, and both will become one family—Jacob’s family. ²Those nations will bring the Israelites back to their land. The men and women from the other nations will become slaves to Israel. In the past, those people forced the Israelites to become their slaves. But in the future the Israelites will defeat those nations, and Israel will then rule over them in the Lord’s land. ³In the past, you were slaves. People forced you to work hard. But the Lord will take away the hard work you were forced to do.

A Song About the King of Babylon

⁴At that time you will begin to sing this song about the king of Babylon:

The king was cruel when he ruled us,
    but now his rule is finished.
⁵The Lord breaks the scepter of evil rulers;
    he takes away their power.
⁶In anger, the king of Babylon beat the people.
    He never stopped beating them.
He was an evil ruler who ruled in anger.
    He never stopped hurting people.
⁷But now, the whole country rests and is quiet.
    Now the people begin to celebrate.
⁸You were an evil king,
    and now you are finished.
Even the pine trees are happy.
    The cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king chopped us down,
    but now the king has fallen,
    and he will never stand again.”
⁹The place of death is excited
    that you are coming.
Sheol is waking the spirits
    of all the leaders of the earth for you.
Sheol is making the kings stand up
    from their thrones to meet you.
¹⁰They will make fun of you, saying,
    “Now you are as dead as we are.
    Now you are just like us.”
¹¹Your pride has been sent down to Sheol.
    The music from your harps announces the coming of your proud spirit.
Maggots will be the bed you lie on,
    and other worms will cover your body like a blanket.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 14:1 non-Israelites This usually means those who live in a country but are not yet citizens of that country. Here, it is the non-Israelites who decided to follow God.