ISAIAH 14 [†] n For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and  o will set them in their own land, and  p sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2[†]And  q the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD’s land  r as male and female slaves. [1]  s They will take captive those who were their captors,  t and rule over those who oppressed them.

3[†]When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4[^][†]you will take up this  u taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,

 v the insolent fury [2] ceased!

5 The LORD has broken the  w staff of the wicked,

the  w scepter of rulers,

6  x that struck the peoples in wrath

with unceasing blows,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrelenting persecution.

7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

 y they break forth into singing.

8  z  a The cypresses rejoice at you,

 b the cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low,

no woodcutter comes up against us.’

9 Sheol beneath is stirred up

to meet you when you come;

it rouses the shades to greet you,

all who were leaders of the earth;

it raises from their thrones

all who were kings of the nations.

10  c All of them will answer

and say to you:

‘You too have become as weak as we!

You have become like us!’

11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.

12[†] “How  d you are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star,  e son of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

13 You said in your heart,

 f ‘I will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

 g I will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north; [3]

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

15  h But you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit.

16 Those who see you will stare at you

and ponder over you:

‘Is this  i the man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms,

17 who made the world like a desert

and overthrew its cities,

 j who did not let his prisoners go home?’

18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

each in his own tomb; [4]

19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,

like a loathed branch,

 k clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a dead body trampled underfoot.

20 You will not be joined with them in burial,

because you have destroyed your land,

you have slain your people.

“May  l the offspring of evildoers

nevermore be named!

21[†] Prepare slaughter for his sons

 m because of the guilt of their fathers,

lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the face of the world with cities.”

22[†]“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and  n remnant,  o descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD. 23“And I will make it a possession of the  p hedgehog, [5] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

24[†] The LORD of hosts has sworn:

 q “As I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand,

25[†] that  r I will break the Assyrian in my land,

and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

and  s his yoke shall depart from them,

and  s his burden from their shoulder.”

26 This is the purpose that is purposed

concerning the whole earth,

and this is  t the hand that is stretched out

over all the nations.

27  u For the LORD of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

 t His hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back?

28[†]In the year that  v King Ahaz died came this  w oracle:

29[†] Rejoice not,  x O Philistia, all of you,

that  y the rod that struck you is broken,

for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,

and its fruit will be a  z flying fiery serpent.

30[†] And the firstborn of  a the poor will graze,

and  a the needy lie down in safety;

but I will kill your root with famine,

and your remnant it will slay.

31  b Wail, O  c gate; cry out, O city;

melt in fear,  x O Philistia, all of you!

 d For smoke comes out of the north,

and there is no straggler in his ranks.

32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation?

 e “The LORD has founded Zion,

and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”