Isaiah 14:4–21

⁴that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon,

and you will say:

“How the oppressor has ceased!

his insolence^c has ceased.

⁵Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked,

the scepter of rulers,

⁶that struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrestrained persecution.^d

⁷All of the earth rests and is quiet;

they break forth into singing.

⁸Even the cypresses rejoice over you,

the cedars of Lebanon:

‘Since you were laid down,

no wood cutter comes up against us.’

⁹Sheol below is getting excited over you,

to meet you when you come;^e

it arouses the dead spirits for you,

all of the leaders of the earth.

It raises all of the kings of the nations from their thrones.

¹⁰All of them will respond and say to you,

‘You yourself also were made weak like us!

You have become the same as us!’

¹¹Your pride is brought down to Sheol,

and the sound of your harps;

maggots^f are spread out beneath you like a bed,

and your covering is worms.^g

¹²How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn!

You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations!

¹³And you yourself said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise up my throne above the stars of God;

and I will sit on the mountain of assembly

on the summit of Zaphon;^h

¹⁴I will ascend to the high places of the clouds,ⁱ

I will make myself like the Most High.’

¹⁵But you are brought down to Sheol,

to the depths of the pit.

¹⁶Those who see you will stare at you,

they will look closely at you:

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

who caused kingdoms to shake,

¹⁷who made the world like the desert

and destroyed its cities,

who would not let his prisoners go home?’

¹⁸All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory,

each one in his house.

¹⁹But as for you, you are thrown away from your grave,

like an abhorrent shoot,

clothed with the slain,

those pierced by the sword,

those who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a corpse that is trodden down.

²⁰You will not be united with them in burial

because you have destroyed your land,

you have killed your people.

The descendants^j of evildoers will not be mentioned for eternity!

²¹Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons

because of the sin of their ancestors.^k

Let them not rise and take possession of the earth

or fill up the face of the world with cities.”