Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon

When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this (A)taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    (B)the insolent fury[a] ceased!
The Lord has broken the (C)staff of the wicked,
    the (D)scepter of rulers,
(E)that struck the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    (F)they break forth into singing.
(G)(H)The cypresses rejoice at you,
    (I)the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’
Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
    all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
    all who were kings of the nations.
10 (J)All of them will answer
    and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covers.

12 “How (K)you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, (L)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
    (M)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    (N)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;[b]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 (O)But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
‘Is this (P)the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    (Q)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;[c]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
(R)clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the pit,
    like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
    because you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.

“May (S)the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons
    (T)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess 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 name and (U)remnant, (V)descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the (W)hedgehog,[d] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

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Notas al pie

  1. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain
  2. Isaiah 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon
  3. Isaiah 14:18 Hebrew house
  4. Isaiah 14:23 Possibly porcupine, or owl

In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,

“The mighty man has been destroyed.
    Yes, your insolence[a] is ended.
For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
    and broken your evil rule.
You struck the people with endless blows of rage
    and held the nations in your angry grip
    with unrelenting tyranny.
But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
    Now it can sing again!
Even the trees of the forest—
    the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
    sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
    no one will come now to cut us down!’

“In the place of the dead[b] there is excitement
    over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
    stand up to see you.
10 With one voice they all cry out,
    ‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11 Your might and power were buried with you.[c]
    The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
    and worms your blanket.’

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13 For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.[d]
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.’
15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
    down to its lowest depths.
16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
    and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17 Is this the one who destroyed the world
    and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities
    and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

18 “The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,
    each in his own tomb,
19 but you will be thrown out of your grave
    like a worthless branch.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
    you will be dumped into a mass grave
    with those killed in battle.
You will descend to the pit.
20     You will not be given a proper burial,
for you have destroyed your nation
    and slaughtered your people.
The descendants of such an evil person
    will never again receive honor.
21 Kill this man’s children!
    Let them die because of their father’s sins!
They must not rise and conquer the earth,
    filling the world with their cities.”

22 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
    “I, myself, have risen against Babylon!
I will destroy its children and its children’s children,”
    says the Lord.
23 “I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls,
    filled with swamps and marshes.
I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction.
    I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

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Notas al pie

  1. 14:4 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; the meaning of the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  2. 14:9 Hebrew Sheol; also in 14:15.
  3. 14:11 Hebrew were brought down to Sheol.
  4. 14:13 Or on the heights of Zaphon.