Isaiah 14:9-32

9The deep hole of death below the earth is ready to receive you! People there want to meet you. The spirits of those who ruled on the earth have heard that you are coming. They are standing up from their thrones.

10All of them will say to you, “Now you have become as weak as we are! You are weak like us!”

11Your great power has now come down low, into the deep hole of death. People no longer praise you with their harps. Now you will lie on a bed of maggots. A blanket of worms will cover you.

12Look at you! You have fallen from heaven! You shine like the bright morning star! You have won against many nations, but now you have come down very low!

13You said to yourself, “I will go up into heaven. I will put my throne above the stars of God. I will rule as king on the mountain in the far north, where the gods of the nations meet together.

14I will go up above the tops of the clouds. I will become like the Most High God.”

15But instead of that, you have come down into the deep hole of death. You have fallen to the deepest place under the earth.

16In that deep place, people will look at you carefully. They will be very surprised. They will think, “This is the man who caused the earth to shake. He caused kingdoms to shake with fear. Is that really true?

17Is this really the man who made the world become like a desert? He destroyed its cities. He did not let his prisoners go back to their homes.”

18All the kings of all the nations lie down there, with all their valuable things. Each king lies in his own grave.

19But as for you, Babylon's king, they have thrown you out! You have no grave! You are like a branch that has broken off. You lie among the dead bodies of soldiers that their enemies have killed with their swords. They have thrown your body into a big hole in the rocks, and they have walked over it.

20They will not bury you with those other kings, because you destroyed your land and you killed your people. Nobody will ever remember the family of a wicked person like you.

21Prepare to kill this king's children, because of the sins of their ancestors. Then his children will not rule the world. They will not build cities everywhere.’

22This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘I will attack Babylon and I will destroy it. I will leave nothing that people can remember. No people or their descendants will remain.’

23The Lord Almighty says, ‘I will make Babylon a place where wild animals live. There will be pools of bad water. I will sweep everything away, like someone who sweeps dirt away with a brush.’

24The Lord Almighty promises this: ‘It will happen exactly as I have decided. Yes, it will really happen like that.

25I will destroy the Assyrians who are in my land. I will knock them down on my mountains. They will no longer be cruel to my people. My people will not be their slaves any more.

26That is what I have decided for the whole earth. I am ready to show my power against all the nations.’

27Yes, the Lord Almighty has decided what he will do. Nobody can change it. He is ready to show his power. Nobody can stop it.

28In the year that King Ahaz died, God showed this message to Isaiah:

29Do not feel happy, you Philistine people. God has destroyed the king who was attacking you. That king hit you with a big stick, but a dangerous snake will follow! And that snake will give birth to an even more dangerous snake that moves very fast.

30The Lord will give food to the poorest of his people. The weak and helpless people will live safely. But you Philistine people will die from famine. I will destroy you all, so that nobody remains.

31Gate of the city, weep! City, cry out in pain! You Philistine people should be very afraid! See that cloud of smoke in the north! It is the dust of an army that is marching towards you. Their soldiers are ready to fight, and none of them is afraid.

32When a foreign nation sends a message, what should we say? Say that the Lord has made Zion very strong. When his people have trouble, they will be safe there.