Isaiah 14

Modern

Literal

Restoration for Israel

¹For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.

¹For YHWH will have compassion on Jacob, and again He will choose Israel, and He will settle them in their own land, and the sojourner will join them with them, and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

²The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland.

Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.

²And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the land of YHWH as menservants and as maidservants, and they will become captives to their captors, and they will rule over their oppressors.

The Fall of the King of Babylon

³On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,

³And it will come to pass in the day of YHWH giving rest to you from your pain and from your trouble and the hard servitude that has been served upon you,

⁴you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has ceased,

and how his fury^a has ended!

⁴that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and you will say: “How the oppressor has ceased! The boisterous rage has ceased!

⁵The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,

the scepter of the rulers.

⁵YHWH has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers—

⁶It struck the peoples in anger

with unceasing blows;

it subdued the nations in rage

with relentless persecution.

⁶the one striking the peoples in wrath, a striking with no turning aside, one ruling the nations in anger, pursuing without restraint.

⁷All the earth is at peace and at rest;

they break out in song.

⁷All the earth is at rest and quiet; they burst forth with singing,

⁸Even the cypresses^a and cedars of Lebanon

exult over you:

“Since you have been laid low,

no woodcutter comes against us.”

⁸even the cypress trees rejoice over you, the cedars of Lebanon: “Since you have been laid low, the cutter has not come up against us.”

⁹Sheol beneath is eager

to meet you upon your arrival.

It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—

all the rulers of the earth.

It makes all the kings of the nations

rise from their thrones.

⁹Sheol from beneath stirs itself for you, to meet you at your coming; it rouses for you the Rephaim, all the chief ones of the earth; it raises up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

¹⁰They will all respond to you, saying,

“You too have become weak, as we are;

you have become like us!”

¹⁰All of them will answer and will say to you, “Even you have become weak like us, have you become like us.”

¹¹Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol,

along with the music of your harps.

Maggots are your bed

and worms your blanket.

¹¹Your pride has been brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; under you is spread out the maggot, and your covering is the worm.

¹²How you have fallen from heaven,

O day star,^a son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the ground,

O destroyer of nations.

¹²How you have fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O weakener of nations!

¹³You said in your heart:

“I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne

above the stars of God.

I will sit on the mount of assembly,

in the far reaches of the north.^a

¹³For you have said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; above the stars of God I will raise my throne. And I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far reaches of the north.

¹⁴I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like to the Most High.”

¹⁵But you will be brought down to Sheol,

to the lowest depths of the Pit.

¹⁵Yet you will be brought down to Sheol, to the sides of the Pit.

¹⁶Those who see you will stare;

they will ponder your fate:

“Is this the man who shook the earth

and made the kingdoms tremble,

¹⁶Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder at you: “Is this the man who made tremble the earth, the one shaking kingdoms,

¹⁷who turned the world into a desert

and destroyed its cities,

who refused to let the captives

return to their homes?”

¹⁷setting the world as a wilderness; its cities he has broken down; his captives he has not released to their house?”

¹⁸All the kings of the nations lie in state,

each in his own tomb.^a

¹⁸All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie down in glory, each man in his own house;

¹⁹But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch,

covered by those slain with the sword,

and dumped into a rocky pit

like a carcass trampled underfoot.

¹⁹and you are cast out from your grave like a detested branch, the garment of those who are slain, pierced by the sword, going down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trampled.

²⁰You will not join them in burial,

since you have destroyed your land

and slaughtered your own people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never again be mentioned.

²⁰You will not be joined with them in the grave, because your land you have destroyed, your people you have killed—the seed of evildoers let not be mentioned forever!

²¹Prepare a place to slaughter his sons

for the iniquities of their forefathers.

They will never rise up to possess a land

or cover the earth with their cities.

²¹Prepare slaughter for his sons, for the iniquity of their fathers—lest they rise up and possess the land and fill the face of the world with cities!

²²“I will rise up against them,”

declares the LORD of Hosts.

“I will cut off from Babylon

her name and her remnant,

her offspring and her posterity,”

declares the LORD.

²²“And I will rise up against them,” a declaration of YHWH of Hosts, “And I will cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and offspring, and posterity,” a declaration of YHWH.

²³“I will make her a place

for owls and for swamplands;

I will sweep her away

with the broom of destruction,”

declares the LORD of Hosts.

²³“Into a possession into a possession for the owl, and ponds of waters, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” a declaration of YHWH of Hosts.

God’s Purpose against Assyria

²⁴The LORD of Hosts has sworn:

“Surely, as I have planned, so will it be;

as I have purposed, so will it stand.

²⁴YHWH of Hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely as I have purposed, so it will be, and as I have counseled, so it will stand:

²⁵I will break Assyria in My land;

I will trample him on My mountain.

His yoke will be taken off My people,

and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

²⁵To break Assyria in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him! And his yoke will be turned aside from them and his burden will be turned aside from their shoulders.”

²⁶This is the plan devised for the whole earth,

and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.

²⁶This is the counsel that is counseled for all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

²⁷The LORD of Hosts has purposed,

and who can thwart Him?

His hand is outstretched,

so who can turn it back?

²⁷For YHWH of Hosts has counseled, and who can break it? And His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Philistia Will Be Destroyed

²⁸In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:

²⁸In the year of the death of King Ahaz came this burden:

²⁹Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,

that the rod that struck you is broken.

For a viper will spring from the root of the snake,

and a flying serpent from its egg.

²⁹Not do rejoice, Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken—for from the root of the snake will come forth a viper, and its fruit is a flying fiery serpent!

³⁰Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture,

and the needy will lie down in safety,

but I will kill your root by famine,

and your remnant will be slain.

³⁰And the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will stretch out in safety; and I will kill your root with famine and it will slay your remnant.

³¹Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city!

Melt away, all you Philistines!

For a cloud of smoke comes from the north,

and there are no stragglers in its ranks.

³¹Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, Philistia, all of you—for smoke will come from the north, and none is alone in its ranks.

³²What answer will be given

to the envoys of that nation?

“The LORD has founded Zion,

where His afflicted people will find refuge.”

³²And what will he answer to the messengers of the nation? That YHWH has founded Zion, and in it the poor of His people will take refuge.