Isaiah 14:1–16:14
14 The Lord will have compassione on Jacob;
once again he will choosef Israel
and will settle them in their own land.g
Foreignersh will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
and bringi them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nationsj
and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captivesk of their captors
and rule over their oppressors.l
3 On the day the Lord gives you reliefm from your suffering and turmoiln and from the harsh labor forced on you,o 4 you will take up this tauntp against the king of Babylon:q
How the oppressorr has come to an end!
How his furya has ended!
5 The Lord has broken the rods of the wicked,t
the scepteru of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoplesv
with unceasing blows,
and in fury subduedw nations
with relentless aggression.x
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace;y
they break into singing.z
8 Even the junipersa and the cedars of Lebanon
gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.”b
9 The realm of the deadc below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departedd to greet you—
all those who were leaderse in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.f
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”g
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,h
along with the noise of your harps;i
maggots are spread out beneath you
12 How you have fallenl from heaven,
morning star,m son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!n
“I will ascendo to the heavens;
I will raise my thronep
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,q
on the utmost heightsr of Mount Zaphon.b
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;s
I will make myself like the Most High.”t
15 But you are brought downu to the realm of the dead,v
16 Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:y
“Is this the man who shookz the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,a
who overthrewb its cities
and would not let his captives go home?”c
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.d
19 But you are cast oute of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,f
with those pierced by the sword,g
those who descend to the stones of the pit.h
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,i
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspringj of the wickedk
never be mentionedl again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his childrenm
for the sins of their ancestors;n
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
22 “I will rise upo against them,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s namep and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,q”
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owlsr
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,s”
declares the Lord Almighty.t
24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,u
“Surely, as I have planned,v so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen.w
25 I will crush the Assyrianx in my land;
on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yokey will be taken from my people,
and his burden removed from their shoulders.z”
26 This is the plana determined for the whole world;
this is the handb stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,c and who can thwart him?
His handd is stretched out, and who can turn it back?e
A Prophecy Against the Philistines
28 This prophecyf came in the yearg King Ahazh died:
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,i
that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,j
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.k
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needyl will lie down in safety.m
But your root I will destroy by famine;n
it will slayo your survivors.p
31 Wail,q you gate!r Howl, you city!
Melt away, all you Philistines!s
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,t
and there is not a straggler in its ranks.u
to the envoysv of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,w
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.x”
destroyed in a night!
Kirc in Moab is ruined,
destroyed in a night!
2 Dibond goes up to its temple,
to its high placese to weep;
Moab wailsf over Nebog and Medeba.
Every head is shavedh
and every beard cut off.i
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;j
on the roofsk and in the public squaresl
they all wail,m
prostrate with weeping.n
4 Heshbono and Elealehp cry out,
their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.q
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
and their hearts are faint.
5 My heart cries outr over Moab;s
her fugitivest flee as far as Zoar,u
as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaimv
they lament their destruction.w
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried upx
and the grass is withered;y
the vegetation is gonez
and nothing green is left.a
7 So the wealth they have acquiredb and stored up
they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
their lamentation as far as Beerc Elim.
9 The waters of Dimona are full of blood,
but I will bring still more upon Dimonb—
a liond upon the fugitives of Moabe
and upon those who remain in the land.
to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,h across the desert,
to the mount of Daughter Zion.i
pushed from the nest,j
so are the women of Moabk
3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.
“Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,n
do not betray the refugees.
4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
be their sheltero from the destroyer.”
The oppressorp will come to an end,
and destruction will cease;q
the aggressor will vanish from the land.
5 In love a throner will be established;s
in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
one from the housea of Davidt—
one who in judging seeks justiceu
and speeds the cause of righteousness.
6 We have heard of Moab’sv pridew—
how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
but her boasts are empty.
7 Therefore the Moabites wail,x
they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
for the raisin cakesy of Kir Hareseth.z
8 The fields of Heshbona wither,b
the vines of Sibmahc also.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled down the choicest vines,d
which once reached Jazere
and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread outf
and went as far as the sea.b g
9 So I weep,h as Jazer weeps,
for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,i
I drench you with tears!j
The shouts of joyk over your ripened fruit
and over your harvestsl have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;m
no one sings or shoutsn in the vineyards;
no one treadso out wine at the presses,p
for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moabq like a harp,r
my inmost beings for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place,t
she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrineu to pray,
it is to no avail.v
13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,w as a servant bound by contractx would count them,y Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,z and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”a