1The Lord will have compassion on Jacob;
once again he will choose Israel
and will settle them in their own land.
Foreigners will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
2Nations will take them
and bring them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations
and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives of their captors
and rule over their oppressors.
3On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
How the oppressor has come to an end!
How his fury14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain. has ended!
5The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers,
6which in anger struck down peoples
with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued nations
with relentless aggression.
7All the lands are at rest and at peace;
they break into singing.
8Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon
gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.”
9The realm of the dead below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
all those who were leaders in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.
10They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”
11All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms cover you.
12How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
16Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:
“Is this the man who shook the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17the man who made the world a wilderness,
who overthrew its cities
and would not let his captives go home?”
18All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.
19But you are cast out of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,
with those pierced by the sword,
those who descend to the stones of the pit.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20you will not join them in burial,
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspring of the wicked
never be mentioned again.
21Prepare a place to slaughter his children
for the sins of their ancestors;
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
22“I will rise up against them,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,”
declares the Lord.
23“I will turn her into a place for owls
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
24The Lord Almighty has sworn,
“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen.
25I will crush the Assyrian in my land;
on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke will be taken from my people,
and his burden removed from their shoulders.”
26This is the plan determined for the whole world;
this is the hand stretched out over all nations.
27For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
A Prophecy Against the Philistines
28This prophecy came in the year King Ahaz died:
29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,
that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.
30The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needy will lie down in safety.
But your root I will destroy by famine;
it will slay your survivors.
31Wail, you gate! Howl, you city!
Melt away, all you Philistines!
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,
and there is not a straggler in its ranks.
32What answer shall be given
to the envoys of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”
1Awurade bɛhunu Yakob mmɔbɔ;
ɔbɛsane afa Israel
na ɔbɛbɔ wɔn atenaseɛ wɔ wɔn ankasa asase so.
Ananafoɔ bɛba abɛka wɔn ho
na wɔne Yakob efie aka abɔ mu.
2Amanaman bɛfa wɔn
de wɔn aba wɔn ankasa atenaeɛ.
Na Israel efie bɛfa amanaman no ayɛ wɔn dea
sɛ nkoa ne mfenaa wɔ Awurade asase so.
Wɔbɛyɛ wɔn a wɔyɛɛ wɔn nnommumfoɔ no nnommum
na wɔbɛdi wɔn sohwɛfoɔ so.
3Na da a Awurade bɛma mo ahome afiri amanehunu, ahoyera ne nkoasom denden mu no, 4mobɛdi Babiloniahene ho fɛ sɛ:
hwɛ sɛdeɛ ɔhyɛsofoɔ no aba nʼawieeɛ!
Ne sɛdeɛ nʼabufuo nso to atwa!
5Awurade abubu otirimuɔdenfoɔ no abaa mu,
sodifoɔ ahempoma no,
6deɛ abufuo mu no ɔde bobɔɔ wɔn
toatoaa so hwehwee fam,
na abufuhyeɛ mu ɔtintim wɔn so a ahomegyeɛ nni mu
de brɛɛ amanaman no ase.
7Nsase no nyinaa rehome wɔ asomdwoeɛ mu;
na wɔto dwom.
8Mpo, pepeaa nnua ne Lebanon ntweneduro
nya ho anigyeɛ na wɔka sɛ,
“Afei a wɔabrɛ wo ase yi,
duatwafoɔ biara remmetwa yɛn.”
9Damena a ɛwɔ aseɛ no rekeka ne ho
abɛhyia wo kwan;
ɛkanyane wɔn a wɔafiri mu no honhom
sɛ wɔmmɛma wo akwaaba,
wɔn a na wɔyɛ akannifoɔ wɔ ewiase,
ɛma wɔsɔre firi wɔn nhennwa so,
wɔn a na wɔyɛ ahemfo wɔ amanaman so.
10Wɔn nyinaa bɛgye so,
wɔbɛka akyerɛ wo sɛ,
“Wo nso woayɛ mmrɛ sɛ yɛn;
woayɛ sɛ yɛn ara.”
11Wo kɛseyɛ nyinaa wɔde aba damena mu,
ne hooyɛ a ɛfiri wo nsankuo no;
wɔde nsammaa asɛ kɛtɛ ama wo
na asonsono akata wo so.
12Sɛdeɛ wofiri soro abɛhwe fam,
Ao, anɔpa nsoromma, adekyeeɛ babarima!
Wɔato wo abɛhwe asase so,
wo a na kane no wobrɛ amanaman ase!
13Wokaa no wʼakoma mu sɛ,
“Mɛforo akɔ soro;
mɛma mʼahennwa so
asi Onyankopɔn nsoromma atifi;
mɛtena ase adi ɔhene wɔ ahyiaeɛ bepɔ so,
deɛ ɛkrɔn paa wɔ bepɔ kronkron no so.
14Mɛforo atra omununkum atifi;
mɛyɛ me ho sɛ Ɔsorosoroni no.”
15Nanso wɔde wo abɛto damena mu,
amena donkudonku ase tɔnn.
16Wɔn a wɔhunu wo no hwɛ wo haa,
wɔdwene deɛ ato woɔ no ho bisa sɛ,
“Ɛnyɛ ɔbarima a ɔwosoo asase
na ɔmaa ahennie ho popooeɛ,
17ɔbarima a ɔmaa ewiase danee anweatam,
deɛ ɔdanee ne nkuropɔn butuiɛ
na wamma ne nneduafoɔ ankɔ wɔn nkyi no nie?”
18Amanaman ahemfo no nyinaa, wɔadeda obiara
wɔ ne da mu.
19Nanso wɔapam wo afiri wo da mu
te sɛ duban a wɔapoɔ;
wɔde wɔn a atotɔ akata wo so,
wɔn a wɔtɔɔ wɔ akofena ano,
wɔn a wɔsiane kɔ aboɔ amena mu,
te sɛ efunu a wɔatiatia soɔ.
20Wɔrensie wo nka wɔn ho,
ɛfiri sɛ, woasɛe wʼasase
na wakunkum wo nkurɔfoɔ.
Otirimuɔdenfoɔ asefoɔ no
wɔrenkae wɔn bio. Wo babarima renni wʼadeɛ sɛ ɔhene.
21Siesie baabi a wɔbɛkunkum ne mmammarima
wɔ wɔn agyanom bɔne nti;
ɛnsɛ sɛ wɔsɔre di asase no so
na wɔde wɔn nkuropɔn pete so.
22“Mɛsɔre atia wɔn,”
Sɛdeɛ Asafo Awurade seɛ nie.
“Mɛtwa ne din ne ne nkaeɛfoɔ,
ne mma ne mmanananom afiri Babilonia ho,”
sɛdeɛ Asafo Awurade seɛ nie.
23“Mɛdane no ayɛ beaeɛ a apatuo wɔ
ne ɔwora;
mede ɔsɛeɛ praeɛ bɛpra no,”
sɛdeɛ Asafo Awurade seɛ nie.
Nkɔmhyɛ A Ɛtia Asiria
24Asafo Awurade aka ntam sɛ,
“Nokorɛm, sɛdeɛ mahyehyɛ no, saa ara na ɛbɛyɛ,
na sɛdeɛ madwene ho no, ɛrensesa.
25Mɛsɛe Asiria pasaa wɔ mʼasase so;
mɛtiatia ne so me mmepɔ so.
Ɔbɛyi ne kɔnnua afiri me nkurɔfoɔ so,
na nʼadesoa nso afiri wɔn so.”
26Yei ne nhyehyɛeɛ a wɔayɛ ama ewiase nyinaa;
yei ne nsa a wɔatene wɔ aman nyinaa so.
27Na sɛ Asafo Awurade ayɛ nʼadwene a hwan na ɔbɛsi no kwan?
Na sɛ watene ne nsa, hwan na ɔbɛsianka no?
Nkɔmhyɛ A Ɛtia Filistifoɔ
28Saa adehunu yi baa afe a ɔhene Ahas wuiɛ no:
29Monnni ahurisie, mo Filistifoɔ,
sɛ abaa a ɛbɔɔ mo no mu abubu;
saa ɔwɔ no ase na ɔnanka bɛfiri aba,
na nʼaba bɛyɛ ɔtweaseɛ a ne ho yɛ herɛ na nʼano wɔ borɔ.
30Ahiafoɔ mu hiani bɛnya adidibea,
na mmɔborɔni bɛda asomdwoeɛ mu.
Nanso wʼasefoɔ deɛ, mede ɛkɔm bɛtɔre wɔn ase;
ɛbɛkunkum wo nkaeɛfoɔ.
31Twa adwo, Ao kuro ɛpono! Su teaam Ao kuropɔn!
Monnwane, mo Filistifoɔ!
Wisie kumɔnn bi firi atifi fam reba,
na obiara ntwentwɛn ne nan ase wɔ wɔn mu.
32Mmuaeɛ bɛn na wɔde bɛma
saa ɔman no ananmusifoɔ?
“Awurade de Sion atim hɔ.
Ne mu na nʼamanehunufoɔ bɛnya dwanekɔbea.”
