Isaiah 14

New King James Version

Mercy on Jacob

14 For the Lord ^(A)will have mercy on Jacob, and ^(B)will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. ^(C)The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. ²Then people will take them ^(D)and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, ^(E)and rule over their oppressors.

Fall of the King of Babylon

³It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, ⁴that you ^(F)will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
The ^(G)golden^[a] city ceased!
⁵The Lord has broken ^(H)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
⁶He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
⁷The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
⁸^(I)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you ^[b]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’

⁹“Hell^(J)^[c] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
¹⁰They all shall ^(K)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
¹¹Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’

The Fall of Lucifer

¹²“How^(L) you are fallen from heaven,
O ^[d]Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
¹³For you have said in your heart:
^(M)‘I will ascend into heaven,
^(N)I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the ^(O)mount of the congregation
^(P)On the farthest sides of the north;
¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
^(Q)I will be like the Most High.’
¹⁵Yet you ^(R)shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the ^[e]lowest depths of the Pit.

¹⁶“Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who ^[f]did not open the house of his prisoners?’

¹⁸“All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
¹⁹But you are cast out of your grave
Like an ^[g]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
^[h]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
²⁰You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
^(S)The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
²¹Prepare slaughter for his children
^(T)Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Babylon Destroyed

²²“For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon ^(U)the name and ^(V)remnant,
^(W)And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
²³“I will also make it a possession for the ^(X)porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.

Assyria Destroyed

²⁴The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall ^(Y)stand:
²⁵That I will break the ^(Z)Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then ^(AA)his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
²⁶This is the ^(AB)purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
²⁷For the Lord of hosts has ^(AC)purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”

Philistia Destroyed

²⁸This is the ^[i]burden which came in the year that ^(AD)King Ahaz died.

²⁹“Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
^(AE)Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
^(AF)And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
³⁰The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
³¹Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his ^[j]appointed times.”

³²What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That ^(AG)the Lord has founded Zion,
And ^(AH)the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.

Footnotes

Isaiah 14:4 Or insolent
Isaiah 14:8 have lain down
Isaiah 14:9 Or Sheol
Isaiah 14:12 Lit. Day Star
Isaiah 14:15 Lit. recesses
Isaiah 14:17 Would not release
Isaiah 14:19 despised
Isaiah 14:19 Pierced
Isaiah 14:28 oracle, prophecy
Isaiah 14:31 Or ranks

Acts 15:22-41

New King James Version

The Jerusalem Decree

²²Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named ^(A)Barsabas,^[a] and Silas, leading men among the brethren.

²³They wrote this letter by them:

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,

To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

²⁴Since we have heard that ^(B)some who went out from us have troubled you with words, ^(C)unsettling your souls, ^[b]saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— ²⁵it seemed good to us, being assembled with one ^[c]accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶^(D)men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: ²⁹^(E)that you abstain from things offered to idols, ^(F)from blood, from things strangled, and from ^(G)sexual^[d] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.

Continuing Ministry in Syria

³⁰So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. ³¹When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. ³²Now Judas and Silas, themselves being ^(H)prophets also, ^(I)exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. ³³And after they had stayed there for a time, they were ^(J)sent back with greetings from the brethren to ^[e]the apostles.

³⁴^[f]However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. ³⁵^(K)Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Division over John Mark

³⁶Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” ³⁷Now Barnabas ^[g]was determined to take with them ^(L)John called Mark. ³⁸But Paul insisted that they should not take with them ^(M)the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to ^(N)Cyprus; ⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and departed, ^(O)being ^[h]commended by the brethren to the grace of God. ⁴¹And he went through Syria and Cilicia, ^(P)strengthening the churches.