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Isaiah 14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Isaiah 14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 14
Restoration of Israel. 1 But the Lord will take pity on Jacob and again choose Israel, and will settle them on their own land; foreigners will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.(A) 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.(B)
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,(C) 4 you will take up this taunt-song[b] against the king of Babylon:(D)
How the oppressor has come to an end!
how the turmoil has ended!
5 The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,
the staff of the tyrants(E)
6 That struck the peoples in wrath
with relentless blows;
That ruled the nations in anger,
with boundless persecution.(F)
7 The whole earth rests peacefully,
song breaks forth;
8 The very cypresses rejoice over you,
the cedars of Lebanon:
“Now that you are laid to rest,
no one comes to cut us down.”(G)
9 Below, Sheol is all astir
preparing for your coming;
Awakening the shades to greet you,
all the leaders of the earth;
Making all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10 All of them speak out
and say to you,
“You too have become weak like us,
you are just like us!
11 Down to Sheol your pomp is brought,
the sound of your harps.
Maggots are the couch beneath you,
worms your blanket.”(H)
12 How you have fallen from the heavens,
O Morning Star,[c] son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the earth,
you who conquered nations!(I)
13 In your heart you said:
“I will scale the heavens;
Above the stars of God[d]
I will set up my throne;
I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly,
on the heights of Zaphon.(J)
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High!”(K)
15 No! Down to Sheol you will be brought
to the depths of the pit!(L)
16 When they see you they will stare,
pondering over you:
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms?
17 Who made the world a wilderness,
razed its cities,
and gave captives no release?”
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;(M)
19 But you are cast forth without burial,
like loathsome carrion,
Covered with the slain, with those struck by the sword,
a trampled corpse,
Going down to the very stones of the pit.(N)
20 You will never be together with them in the grave,
For you have ruined your land,
you have slain your people!
Let him never be named,
that offshoot of evil!
21 Make ready to slaughter his sons
for the guilt of their fathers;(O)
Lest they rise and possess the earth,
and fill the breadth of the world with cities.[e]
22 I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, progeny and offspring, says the Lord.(P) 23 I will make it a haunt of hoot owls and a marshland; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, oracle of the Lord of hosts.
God’s Plan for Assyria[f]
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
As I have resolved,
so shall it be;
As I have planned,
so shall it stand:
25 To break the Assyrian in my land
and trample him on my mountains;
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
and his burden from their shoulder.(Q)
26 This is the plan proposed for the whole earth,
and this the hand outstretched over all the nations.[g]
27 The Lord of hosts has planned;
who can thwart him?
His hand is stretched out;
who can turn it back?(R)
Philistia.[h] 28 In the year that King Ahaz died,[i] there came this oracle:
29 [j]Do not rejoice, Philistia, not one of you,
that the rod which struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root shall come an adder,
its offspring shall be a flying saraph.
30 In my pastures the poor shall graze,
and the needy lie down in safety;
But I will kill your root with famine
that shall slay even your remnant.
31 Howl, O gate; cry out, O city!
Philistia, all of you melts away!
For there comes a smoke from the north,[k]
without a straggler in its ranks.
32 What will one answer the messengers of the nations?[l]
“The Lord has established Zion,
and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”
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.
- 14:12 Morning Star: term addressed to the king of Babylon. The Vulgate translates as “Lucifer,” a name applied by the church Fathers to Satan. Son of the dawn: Heb., ben shahar, may reflect the name of a pagan deity.
- 14:13–15 God: not Elohim, the common word for God, but El, the name of the head of the pantheon in Canaanite mythology, a god who was early identified with the Lord in Israelite thought. Mount of Assembly: mountain where the council of the gods met, according to Canaanite mythology. Zaphon: the sacred mountain of Baal, originally the Jebel el-Aqra north of Ugarit, but other mountains have been identified with it, including Mount Zion in Jerusalem (Ps 48:3). The attempt to usurp the place of God (v. 14), coupled with the dramatic reversal (“above the stars of God” to “the depths of the pit”) occasioned the interpretation that saw here the rebellion and fall of Satan.
- 14:21 Cities: if the text is correct, it presumably refers to cities as expressions of human pride, authority, and oppression (cf. Gn 11:1–9; Na 3:1–4).
- 14:24–27 The motif of God’s plan or work is a recurring thread running through Isaiah’s oracles. The plans of Judah’s enemies will not come to pass (7:5–7; 8:9–10; 10:7), but God’s plan for his work of disciplining his own people (5:12, 19; 28:21), and then for punishing the foreign agents God used to administer that discipline (10:12) will come to pass.
- 14:26 Hand outstretched over all the nations: as it was once outstretched over Israel (9:11, 16, 20; 5:25).
- 14:28–31 This oracle seems to reflect the political situation soon after the death of Ahaz in 715 B.C., when Ashdod and the other Philistine cities were trying to create a united front to rebel against Assyria. Ahaz had refused to join the rebels in 735 B.C. and remained loyal to Assyria during the rest of his reign, but the Philistines may have had higher hopes for his son Hezekiah. Judah, however, did not join in Ashdod’s disastrous revolt in 713–711 B.C. (cf. 20:1).
- 14:28 The year that King Ahaz died: 715 B.C.
- 14:29 The occasion for this oracle is usually taken to be the death of an Assyrian king; the Philistines were vassals of Assyria, whereas no victories of Ahaz over the Philistines are recorded. The chronological notice (in the year that King Ahaz died) may be incorrect, for no Assyrian king died around 715, the date usually assigned for the death of Ahaz. Flying saraph: a winged cobra, often portrayed in Egyptian art and on Israelite seals. The Hebrew saraph means “to burn” and perhaps is applied to the cobra because of the burning sensation of its bite.
- 14:31 Smoke from the north: the dust raised from the approach of the Assyrian army.
- 14:32 Messengers of the nations: envoys from Philistia, and from Egypt and Ethiopia, the real powers behind the Philistine revolt (20:1–6; cf. 18:1–2).
Isaiah 14
New International Version
Isaiah 14
New International Version
14 The Lord will have compassion(A) on Jacob;
once again he will choose(B) Israel
and will settle them in their own land.(C)
Foreigners(D) will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
2 Nations will take them
and bring(E) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(F)
and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(G) of their captors
and rule over their oppressors.(H)
3 On the day the Lord gives you relief(I) from your suffering and turmoil(J) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(K) 4 you will take up this taunt(L) against the king of Babylon:(M)
How the oppressor(N) has come to an end!
How his fury[a] has ended!
5 The Lord has broken the rod(O) of the wicked,(P)
the scepter(Q) of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples(R)
with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(S) nations
with relentless aggression.(T)
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace;(U)
they break into singing.(V)
8 Even the junipers(W) and the cedars of Lebanon
gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.”(X)
9 The realm of the dead(Y) below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(Z) to greet you—
all those who were leaders(AA) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.(AB)
10 They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”(AC)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(AD)
along with the noise of your harps;(AE)
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms(AF) cover you.(AG)
12 How you have fallen(AH) from heaven,
morning star,(AI) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!(AJ)
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend(AK) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(AL)
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(AM)
on the utmost heights(AN) of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(AO)
I will make myself like the Most High.”(AP)
15 But you are brought down(AQ) to the realm of the dead,(AR)
to the depths(AS) of the pit.(AT)
16 Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:(AU)
“Is this the man who shook(AV) the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(AW)
who overthrew(AX) its cities
and would not let his captives go home?”(AY)
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.(AZ)
19 But you are cast out(BA) of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(BB)
with those pierced by the sword,(BC)
those who descend to the stones of the pit.(BD)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,(BE)
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspring(BF) of the wicked(BG)
never be mentioned(BH) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(BI)
for the sins of their ancestors;(BJ)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
22 “I will rise up(BK) against them,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(BL) and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,(BM)”
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(BN)
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(BO)”
declares the Lord Almighty.(BP)
24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(BQ)
“Surely, as I have planned,(BR) so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(BS)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(BT) in my land;
on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(BU) will be taken from my people,
and his burden removed from their shoulders.(BV)”
26 This is the plan(BW) determined for the whole world;
this is the hand(BX) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(BY) and who can thwart him?
His hand(BZ) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(CA)
A Prophecy Against the Philistines
28 This prophecy(CB) came in the year(CC) King Ahaz(CD) died:
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(CE)
that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(CF)
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(CG)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needy(CH) will lie down in safety.(CI)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(CJ)
it will slay(CK) your survivors.(CL)
31 Wail,(CM) you gate!(CN) Howl, you city!
Melt away, all you Philistines!(CO)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(CP)
and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(CQ)
32 What answer shall be given
to the envoys(CR) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(CS)
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(CT)”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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