Isaiah 14:4–21

⁴that you will ^atake up this ¹taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,

“How ^bthe taskmaster has ceased,

And how ²fury has ceased!

⁵“Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked,

The scepter of rulers

^6aWhich used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,

Which had dominion over the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

⁷“The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;

They ^abreak forth into shouts of joy.

⁸“Even the ^acypress trees are glad over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’

⁹“^aSheol from beneath trembles excitedly over you to meet you when you come;

It wakens for you the ¹spirits of the dead, all the ²leaders of the earth;

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

¹⁰“^aThey will all answer and say to you,

‘Even you have been made weak as we,

You have become like us.

¹¹‘Your ^apride and the music of your harps

Have been brought down to Sheol;

Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you

And worms are your covering.’

¹²“How you have ^afallen from heaven,

O ^1bstar of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth,

You who have weakened the nations!

¹³“But you said in your heart,

‘I will ^aascend to heaven;

I will ^braise my throne above the stars of God,

And I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the recesses of the north.

¹⁴‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

^aI will make myself like the Most High.’

¹⁵“Nevertheless you ^awill be brought down to Sheol,

To the recesses of the pit.

¹⁶“Those who see you will gaze at you,

They will ¹carefully consider you, saying,

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who caused kingdoms to quake,

¹⁷Who made the world like a ^awilderness

And pulled down its cities,

Who ^bdid not ¹allow his prisoners to go home?’

¹⁸“All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

Each in his own ¹place.

¹⁹“But you have been ^acast out of your grave

Like an abhorred branch,

¹Clothed with those killed who are pierced with a sword,

Who go down to the stones of the ^bpit

Like a ^ctrampled corpse.

²⁰“You will not be united with them in burial,

Because you have ruined your country,

You have killed your people.

May the ^aseed of evildoers not be called upon forever.

²¹“Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter

Because of the ^ainiquity of their fathers.

They must not arise and take possession of the earth

And fill the face of the world with cities.”