Isaiah 14:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 The nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them[a] as male and female slaves on the Lord’s land; they will take captive their captors and rule over their oppressors.(A)
Downfall of the King of Babylon. 3 On the day when the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow and turmoil, from the hard service with which you served,(B) 4 you will take up this taunt-song[b] against the king of Babylon:(C)
How the oppressor has come to an end!
how the turmoil has ended!
Footnotes
- 14:2 Possess them: Israel will make slaves of the nations who escort it back to its land.
- 14:4–21 This taunt-song, a satirical funeral lament, is a beautiful example of classical Hebrew poetry. According to the prose introduction and the prosaic conclusion (vv. 22–23), it is directed against the king of Babylon, though Babylon is mentioned nowhere in the song itself. If the reference to Babylon is accurate, the piece was composed long after the time of Isaiah, for Babylon was not a threat to Judah in the eighth century. Some have argued that Isaiah wrote it at the death of an Assyrian king and the references to Babylon were made by a later editor, but this is far from certain.
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