Isaiah 14
14:1 The
“Look how the oppressor has met his end!
Hostility8 has ceased!
14:5 The
the scepter of rulers.
14:6 It9 furiously struck down nations
with unceasing blows.10
It angrily ruled over nations,
oppressing them without restraint.11
14:7 The whole earth rests and is quiet;
they break into song.
14:8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise,12
as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing,13
‘Since you fell asleep,14
no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’15
14:9 Sheol16 below is stirred up about you,
ready to meet you when you arrive.
It rouses17 the spirits of the dead for you,
all the former leaders of the earth;18
it makes all the former kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.19
14:10 All of them respond to you, saying:
‘You too have become weak like us!
You have become just like us!
14:11 Your splendor20 has been brought down to Sheol,
as well as the sound of your stringed instruments.21
You lie on a bed of maggots,
with a blanket of worms over you.22
14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!23
You have been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror24 of the nations!25
14:13 You said to yourself,26
“I will climb up to the sky.
Above the stars of El27
I will set up my throne.
I will rule on the mountain of assembly
on the remote slopes of Zaphon.28
14:14 I will climb up to the tops29 of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High!”30
14:15 But you were brought down31 to Sheol,
to the remote slopes of the pit.32
14:16 Those who see you stare at you,
they look at you carefully, thinking:33
“Is this the man who shook the earth,
the one who made kingdoms tremble?
14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,
who ruined its34 cities,
and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’35
14:1836As for all the kings of the nations,
all of them37 lie down in splendor,38
each in his own tomb.39
14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away.40
You lie among41 the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for42 the stones of the pit,43
as if you were a mangled corpse.44
14:20 You will not be buried with them,45
because you destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again.
14:21 Prepare to execute46 his sons
for the sins their ancestors have committed.47
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.”48
14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people,49
including the offspring she produces,”50
says the
14:23 “I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals51
and covered with pools of stagnant water.
I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,”52
says the
14:2453 The
“Be sure of this:
Just as I have intended, so it will be;
just as I have planned, it will happen.
14:25 I will break Assyria54 in my land,
I will trample them55 underfoot on my hills.
Their yoke will be removed from my people,
the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.56
14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;
my hand is ready to strike all the nations.”57
14:27 Indeed,58 the
and who can possibly frustrate it?
His hand is ready to strike,
and who can possibly stop it?59
The Lord Will Judge the Philistines
14:28 In the year King Ahaz died,60 this message was revealed:61
14:29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,
just because the club that beat you has been broken!62
For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,
and its fruit will be a darting adder.63
14:30 The poor will graze in my pastures;64
the needy will rest securely.
But I will kill your root by famine;
it will put to death all your survivors.65
Cry out, O city!
Melt with fear,66 all you Philistines!
For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks.67
14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation?68
Indeed, the
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.