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12 How you have fallen from the heavens,
    O Morning Star,[a] son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the earth,
    you who conquered nations!(A)
13 In your heart you said:
    “I will scale the heavens;
Above the stars of God[b]
    I will set up my throne;
I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly,
    on the heights of Zaphon.(B)
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
    I will be like the Most High!”(C)
15 No! Down to Sheol you will be brought
    to the depths of the pit!(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 14:12 Morning Star: term addressed to the king of Babylon. The Vulgate translates as “Lucifer,” a name applied by the church Fathers to Satan. Son of the dawn: Heb., ben shahar, may reflect the name of a pagan deity.
  2. 14:13–15 God: not Elohim, the common word for God, but El, the name of the head of the pantheon in Canaanite mythology, a god who was early identified with the Lord in Israelite thought. Mount of Assembly: mountain where the council of the gods met, according to Canaanite mythology. Zaphon: the sacred mountain of Baal, originally the Jebel el-Aqra north of Ugarit, but other mountains have been identified with it, including Mount Zion in Jerusalem (Ps 48:3). The attempt to usurp the place of God (v. 14), coupled with the dramatic reversal (“above the stars of God” to “the depths of the pit”) occasioned the interpretation that saw here the rebellion and fall of Satan.

12 How you have fallen(A) from heaven,
    morning star,(B) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(C)
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend(D) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(E)
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(F)
    on the utmost heights(G) of Mount Zaphon.[a]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(H)
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(I)
15 But you are brought down(J) to the realm of the dead,(K)
    to the depths(L) of the pit.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.