Isaiah 14:1-23

The Proverb against the King of Babylon

14¹ When the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel , and settle them in their own land , then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob . ² The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place , and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male servants and female servants e ; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors . ³ And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved ,

⁴ that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon , and say , "How the oppressor has ceased , And how fury has ceased ! ⁵ "The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked , The scepter of rulers ⁶ Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing e strokes , Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained e persecution . ⁷ "The whole earth is at rest and is quiet ; They break forth into shouts of joy . ⁸ "Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon , saying, 'Since you were laid low , no tree cutter comes up against us.' ⁹ " Sheol from beneath e is excited over you to meet you when you come ; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead , all the leaders of the earth ; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones . ¹⁰ " They will all respond and say to you, 'Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us. ¹¹ 'Your pomp 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 fallen from heaven , O star 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 ascend to heaven ; I will raise 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 ; I will make myself like the Most High .' ¹⁵ "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol , To the recesses of the pit . ¹⁶ "Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble , Who shook kingdoms , ¹⁷ Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities , Who did not allow his prisoners to go home ?' ¹⁸ "All the kings of the nations lie in glory , Each in his own tomb . ¹⁹ "But you have been cast out of your tomb Like a rejected branch , Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword , Who go down to the stones of the pit Like a trampled corpse . ²⁰ "You will not be united with them in burial , Because you have ruined your country , You have slain your people . May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever . ²¹ "Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter Because of the iniquity of their fathers . They must not arise and take possession of the earth And fill the face of the world with cities ." ²² "I will rise up against them," declares the Lord of hosts , "and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors , offspring and posterity ," declares the Lord . ²³ "I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water , and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction ," declares the Lord of hosts .