< Isaiah 14 >

1 For 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.
For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, And will yet choose Israel, And will give them rest upon their own soil, —And the sojourner, shall join himself, unto them, And they shall attach themselves unto the house of Jacob;
2 The 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.
And peoples shall take them, and bring them into their own place, And the house of Israel shall possess themselves of them upon the soil of Yahweh for servants and for handmaids, —Thus shall they be taking captive their captors, And shall tread down their oppressors.
3 On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
And it shall come to pass, in the day when Yahweh shall give thee rest from thy toil, and from thy disquiet, —and from the hard service which had been laid upon thee,
4 you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
that thou shalt take up this taunt over the king of Babylon, and shalt say: —How hath ceased the oppressor! Ceased the exactress!
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
Broke hath Yahweh the staff of the lawless, —The sceptre of despots;
6 It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
Smiting peoples in passion With stroke unremitting, —Trampling, in anger, on nations, Persecution unhindered.
7 All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
Quiet, at rest, the whole earth, —Men have burst into shouting!
8 Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Yea the pine-trees, make mirth at thee, Cedars of Lebanon, Since thou wast laid low, No feller hath come up against us!
9 Sheol 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. (Sheol h7585)
Hades beneath, is excited about thee To meet thine arrival, —Rousing up, for thee Shades, All the he-goats of earth! Maketh rise from their thrones, All the kings of the nations. (Sheol h7585)
10 They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
All of them, answer, and say to thee, —Thou too, made strengthless, as we! Unto us, art thou like!
11 Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket. (Sheol h7585)
Brought down to Hades, thy pride. The hum of thy harps, Beneath thee, is spread out corruption, And, thy coverlet—worms! (Sheol h7585)
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
How hast thou fallen from heaven, O Shining One—Son of the Dawn! Hewn down to the earth, O crusher of nations!
13 You 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.
Yet, thou, didst say in thy heart—The heavens, will I ascend, Above the stars of GOD, will I lift up my throne, —That I may sit in the Mount of Assembly In the Recesses of the North:
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
I will mount on the hills of the clouds, I will match the Most High!
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (Sheol h7585)
Howbeit, to Hades, shalt thou be brought down, —To the Recesses of the Pit! (Sheol h7585)
16 Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,
They who see thee, upon thee, will gaze, Upon thee, will thoughtfully muse, —Is this the man who startled the earth? Who terrified kingdoms?
17 who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
Who made the world like a desert? And its cities, brake down? Its prisoners, he loosed not, Each one to his home?
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
All the kings of the nations—they all, are lying in state Each one in his crypt;
19 But 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.
But, thou, art flung out from thy grave, Like a scion detested, Beshrouded with slain, the pierced of the sword, Like a carcase trod underfoot:
20 You 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.
As for them who go down to the stones of the Pit, Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; For thy land, thou didst ruin Thy people, didst slay, —Unnamed to times age-abiding, Be the seed of the wicked!
21 Prepare 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.
Prepare—for his sons—shambles. For the iniquity of their fathers, —They shall not rise nor possess the earth, Nor 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,”
I will rise. Then. against them, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, —And will cut off from Babylon Record and remnant And scion and seed, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
And will make her a possession for the bittern, And marshes of water, —And will sweep it with the besom of destruction, Declareth Yahweh of hosts.
24 The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
Yahweh of hosts, hath sworn, saying, —Surely as I intended, so, hath it come to pass, And as I purposed, the same, shall stand: —
25 I 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.”
That I will break in pieces the Assyrian in my land, Yea upon my mountains, will I tread him underfoot, —So shall be removed from off them his yoke, And his burden, from off their shoulder shall be removed.
26 This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
This, is the purpose that is purposed upon all the earth, —And, this, the hand outstretched over all the nations;
27 The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
For, Yahweh of hosts, hath purposed, —And who shall frustrate? And, his, is the hand outstretched, And who shall turn it back?
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
In the year that King Ahaz died, came this oracle: —
29 Do 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.
Do not rejoice, Philistia, any of thee, In that the rod of him that smote thee, is broken, —For, out of the root of the serpent, shall come forth, a viper, And his fruit be a fiery dragon that flieth.
30 Then 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.
Then shall feed the firstborn of the poor, And the needy, in confidence lie down, —And I will kill with famine thy root, And thy residue, shall be slain.
31 Wail, 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.
Howl—O gate, Make outcry—O city, Dispersed art thou Philistia, all of thee, —For out of the north, a smoke cometh in, With no straggler in his ranks.
32 What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
What, then, shall one answer the messengers of a nation? That Yahweh, hath founded Zion, And in her, shall seek refuge the oppressed of his people.

< Isaiah 14 >