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Israel Will Return Home

14 The Lord will show mercy to the people of Jacob, and he will again choose the people of Israel. He will settle them in their own land. Then non-Israelite people will join the Israelites and will become a part of the family of Jacob. Nations will take the Israelites back to their land. Then those men and women from the other nations will become slaves to Israel in the Lord’s land. In the past the Israelites were their slaves, but now the Israelites will defeat those nations and rule over them.

The King of Babylon Will Fall

The Lord will take away the Israelites’ hard work and will comfort them. They will no longer have to work hard as slaves. On that day Israel will sing this song about the king of Babylon:

The cruel king who ruled us is finished;
    his angry rule is finished!
The Lord has broken the scepter of evil rulers
    and taken away their power.
The king of Babylon struck people in anger
    again and again.
He ruled nations in anger
    and continued to hurt them.
But now, the whole world rests and is quiet.
    Now the people begin to sing.
Even the pine trees are happy,
    and the cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king has fallen,
    so no one will ever cut us down again.”

The place of the dead is excited
    to meet you when you come.
It wakes the spirits of the dead,
    the leaders of the world.
It makes kings of all nations
    stand up from their thrones to greet you.
10 All these leaders will make fun of you
    and will say,
“Now you are weak, as we are.
    Now you are just like us.”
11 Your pride has been sent down to the place of the dead.
    The music from your harps goes with it.
Flies are spread out like your bed beneath you,
    and worms cover your body like a blanket.
12 King of Babylon, morning star, you have fallen from heaven,
    even though you were as bright as the rising sun!
In the past all the nations on earth bowed down before you,
    but now you have been cut down.
13 You told yourself,
    “I will go up to heaven.
I will put my throne
    above God’s stars.
I will sit on the mountain of the gods,
    on the slopes of the sacred mountain.
14 I will go up above the tops of the clouds.
    I will be like God Most High.”
15 But you were brought down to the grave,
    to the deep places where the dead are.

16 Those who see you stare at you.
    They think about what has happened to you
and say, “Is this the same man who caused great fear on earth,
    who shook the kingdoms,
17 who turned the world into a desert,
    who destroyed its cities,
who captured people in war
    and would not let them go home?”

18 Every king of the earth has been buried with honor,
    each in his own grave.
19 But you are thrown out of your grave,
    like an unwanted branch.
You are covered by bodies
    that died in battle,
by bodies to be buried in a rocky pit.
    You are like a dead body other soldiers walk on.
20 You will not be buried with those bodies,
because you ruined your own country
    and killed your own people.
The children of evil people
    will never be mentioned again.

21 Prepare to kill his children,
    because their father is guilty.
They will never again take control of the earth;
    they will never again fill the world with their cities.

22 The Lord All-Powerful says this:
    “I will fight against those people;
I will destroy Babylon and its people,
    its children and their descendants,” says the Lord.
23 “I will make Babylon fit only for owls
    and for swamps.
I will sweep Babylon as with a broom of destruction,”
    says the Lord All-Powerful.

God Will Punish Assyria

24 The Lord All-Powerful has made this promise:

“These things will happen exactly as I planned them;
    they will happen exactly as I set them up.
25 I will destroy the king of Assyria in my country;
    I will trample him on my mountains.
He placed a heavy load on my people,
    but that weight will be removed.

26 “This is what I plan to do for all the earth.
    And this is the hand that I have raised over all nations.”

27 When the Lord All-Powerful makes a plan,
    no one can stop it.
When the Lord raises his hand to punish people,
    no one can stop it.

God’s Message to Philistia

28 This message was given in the year that King Ahaz died:

29 Country of Philistia, don’t be happy
    that the king who struck you is now dead.
He is like a snake that will give birth to another dangerous snake.
    The new king will be like a quick, dangerous snake to bite you.
30 Even the poorest of my people will be able to eat safely,
    and people in need will be able to lie down in safety.
But I will kill your family with hunger,
    and all your people who are left will die.

31 People near the city gates, cry out!
    Philistines, be frightened,
because a cloud of dust comes from the north.
    It is an army, full of men ready to fight.
32 What shall we tell the messengers from Philistia?
    Say that the Lord has made Jerusalem strong
    and that his poor people will go there for safety.

14 The Lord will have compassion(A) on Jacob;
    once again he will choose(B) Israel
    and will settle them in their own land.(C)
Foreigners(D) will join them
    and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
Nations will take them
    and bring(E) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(F)
    and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(G) of their captors
    and rule over their oppressors.(H)

On the day the Lord gives you relief(I) from your suffering and turmoil(J) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(K) you will take up this taunt(L) against the king of Babylon:(M)

How the oppressor(N) has come to an end!
    How his fury[a] has ended!
The Lord has broken the rod(O) of the wicked,(P)
    the scepter(Q) of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples(R)
    with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(S) nations
    with relentless aggression.(T)
All the lands are at rest and at peace;(U)
    they break into singing.(V)
Even the junipers(W) and the cedars of Lebanon
    gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
    no one comes to cut us down.”(X)

The realm of the dead(Y) below is all astir
    to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(Z) to greet you—
    all those who were leaders(AA) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
    all those who were kings over the nations.(AB)
10 They will all respond,
    they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
    you have become like us.”(AC)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(AD)
    along with the noise of your harps;(AE)
maggots are spread out beneath you
    and worms(AF) cover you.(AG)

12 How you have fallen(AH) from heaven,
    morning star,(AI) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(AJ)
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend(AK) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(AL)
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(AM)
    on the utmost heights(AN) of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(AO)
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(AP)
15 But you are brought down(AQ) to the realm of the dead,(AR)
    to the depths(AS) of the pit.(AT)

16 Those who see you stare at you,
    they ponder your fate:(AU)
“Is this the man who shook(AV) the earth
    and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(AW)
    who overthrew(AX) its cities
    and would not let his captives go home?”(AY)

18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
    each in his own tomb.(AZ)
19 But you are cast out(BA) of your tomb
    like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(BB)
    with those pierced by the sword,(BC)
    those who descend to the stones of the pit.(BD)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20     you will not join them in burial,(BE)
for you have destroyed your land
    and killed your people.

Let the offspring(BF) of the wicked(BG)
    never be mentioned(BH) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(BI)
    for the sins of their ancestors;(BJ)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
    and cover the earth with their cities.

22 “I will rise up(BK) against them,”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(BL) and survivors,
    her offspring and descendants,(BM)
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(BN)
    and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(BO)
    declares the Lord Almighty.(BP)

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(BQ)

“Surely, as I have planned,(BR) so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(BS)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(BT) in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(BU) will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.(BV)

26 This is the plan(BW) determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand(BX) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(BY) and who can thwart him?
    His hand(BZ) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(CA)

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28 This prophecy(CB) came in the year(CC) King Ahaz(CD) died:

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(CE)
    that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(CF)
    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(CG)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy(CH) will lie down in safety.(CI)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(CJ)
    it will slay(CK) your survivors.(CL)

31 Wail,(CM) you gate!(CN) Howl, you city!
    Melt away, all you Philistines!(CO)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(CP)
    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(CQ)
32 What answer shall be given
    to the envoys(CR) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(CS)
    and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(CT)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.