Downfall of the King of Babylon

When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,(A) torment, and the hard labor(B) you were forced to do, 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!
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers.
It struck the peoples in anger
with unceasing blows.
It subdued the nations in rage
with relentless persecution.
The whole earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:(D)
“Since you have been laid low,
no lumberjack has come against us.”

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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Notas al pie

  1. 14:4 DSS; Hb uncertain
  2. 14:9 Lit rams
  3. 14:12 Or Day Star, son of the dawn
  4. 14:13 Or of Zaphon
  5. 14:23 Or hedgehogs; Hb obscure

Mockery of a tyrant

When the Lord has given you rest from pain and trouble and from the hard labor that you perform, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor[a] has ceased!
    How the flood[b] has receded!
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
    the rod of tyrants that struck peoples in rage with ceaseless blows,
    that ruled nations with anger,
        with relentless aggression.

All the earth rests quietly,
    then it breaks into song.
Even the cypresses rejoice over you,
    the cedars of Lebanon:
    “Since you were laid low,
        no logger comes up against us!”

The underworld[c] beneath becomes restless to greet your arrival.
It awakens the ghosts,
    all the leaders of earth;
it makes the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
10 All of them speak and say to you:
    “Even you’ve become weak like we are!
    You are the same as us!”
11 Your majesty has been brought down to the underworld,[d]
    along with the sound of your harps.
Under you is a bed of maggots,
    and worms are your blanket.

12 How you’ve fallen from heaven,
    morning star, son of dawn!
You are cut down to earth,
    helpless on your back!
13 You said to yourself, I will climb up to heaven;
    above God’s stars, I will raise my throne.
I’ll sit on the mount of assembly,
    on the heights of Zaphon.
14 I’ll go up to the cloud tops;
    I’ll be like the Most High!
15 But down to the underworld[e] you are brought,
    to the depths of the pit.

16 Those who see you will stare at you;
        they will examine you closely:
    “Is this the man who rattled the earth,
        who shook kingdoms,
17         who made the world a wasteland
        and tore down its cities,
        and wouldn’t let his prisoners go home?”
18 All the kings of the nations lie down honored,
        all of them, each in his own tomb.
19     But you are cast away from your own grave
        like a rejected branch,
        covered by the dead
        and those pierced by the sword—
        who go down to the stony pit—
        like a trampled corpse.
20 You won’t join them in burial,
    for you destroyed your own land;
    you killed your own people.
Such evil offspring will never be mentioned again!

21 Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their father. Don’t let them arise to take over the earth or fill the world with cities.

22 I will arise against them, says the Lord of heavenly forces. I will cut off Babylon’s renown and remnant, offshoot and offspring. 23 I will make it the home of herons, a swampland. I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of heavenly forces.

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Notas al pie

  1. Isaiah 14:4 Heb uncertain
  2. Isaiah 14:4 DSS (1QIsaa), LXX, Syr, Tg; MT fury
  3. Isaiah 14:9 Heb Sheol
  4. Isaiah 14:11 Heb Sheol
  5. Isaiah 14:15 Heb Sheol