Berean Standard Bible

Isaiah 14:4-23

4you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has ceased,and how his fury1 has ended!5The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,the scepter of the rulers.6It struck the peoples in angerwith unceasing blows;it subdued the nations in ragewith relentless persecution.7All the earth is at peace and at rest;they break out in song.8Even the cypresses2 and cedars of Lebanonexult over you:“Since you have been laid low,no woodcutter comes against us.”

9Sheol beneath is eagerto meet you upon your arrival.It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth.It makes all the kings of the nationsrise from their thrones.10They will all respond to you, saying,“You too have become weak, as we are;you have become like us!”11Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol,along with the music of your harps.Maggots are your bedand worms your blanket.

12How you have fallen from heaven,O day star,3 son of the dawn!You have been cut down to the ground,O destroyer of nations.13You said in your heart:“I will ascend to the heavens;I will raise my throneabove the stars of God.I will sit on the mount of assembly,in the far reaches of the north.414I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;I will make myself like the Most High.”

15But you will be brought down to Sheol,to the lowest depths of the Pit.16Those who see you will stare;they will ponder your fate:“Is this the man who shook the earthand made the kingdoms tremble,17who turned the world into a desertand destroyed its cities,who refused to let the captivesreturn to their homes?”

18All the kings of the nations lie in state,each in his own tomb.519But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch,covered by those slain with the sword,and dumped into a rocky pitlike a carcass trampled underfoot.20You will not join them in burial,since you have destroyed your landand slaughtered your own people.The offspring of the wickedwill never again be mentioned.

21Prepare a place to slaughter his sonsfor the iniquities of their forefathers.They will never rise up to possess a landor cover the earth with their cities.22“I will rise up against them,”declares the LORD of Hosts.“I will cut off from Babylonher name and her remnant,her offspring and her posterity,”declares the LORD.23“I will make her a placefor owls and for swamplands;I will sweep her awaywith the broom of destruction,”declares the LORD of Hosts.

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Notes

1. Isaiah 14:4 DSS, LXX, and Syriac; MT the golden city ↩
2. Isaiah 14:8 Or pines or junipers or firs ↩
3. Isaiah 14:12 Or morning star or shining one or Lucifer ↩
4. Isaiah 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon or on the heights of Zaphon ↩
5. Isaiah 14:18 Hebrew house ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Isaiah 14