Isaiah 14:3-23 NIV

Isaiah 14:3-23

On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, you 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!

The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,

the scepter of the rulers,

which in anger struck down peoples

with unceasing blows,

and in fury subdued nations

with relentless aggression.

All the lands are at rest and at peace;

they break into singing.

Even 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.”

The 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.

They will all respond,

they will say to you,

“You also have become weak, as we are;

you have become like us.”

All 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.

How 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!

You 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.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,

to the depths of the pit.

Those who see you stare at you,

they ponder your fate:

“Is this the man who shook the earth

and made kingdoms tremble,

the man who made the world a wilderness,

who overthrew its cities

and would not let his captives go home?”

All the kings of the nations lie in state,

each in his own tomb.

But 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,

you 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.

Prepare 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.

“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.

“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.

Read More of Isaiah 14