Isaiah 14:4-23

New American Standard Bible

“How ^(B)the oppressor has ceased,
And how the ^[b]onslaught has ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of rulers,
^6 (C)Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which ^[c]subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They ^(D)break forth into shouts of joy.
⁸ Even the ^(E)juniper trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you have been laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’
^9 (F)Sheol below is excited about you, to meet you when you come;
It stirs the ^[d]spirits of the dead for you, all the ^[e]leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
^10 (G)They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have become weak as we,
You have become like us.
¹¹ Your ^(H)pride and the music of your harps
Have been brought down to Sheol;
Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
And worms are your covering.’
¹² How you have ^(I)fallen from heaven,
You ^[f](J)star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who defeated the nations!
¹³ But you said in your heart,
‘I will ^(K)ascend to heaven;
I will ^(L)raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
^(M)I will make myself like the Most High.’
¹⁵ Nevertheless you ^(N)will be brought down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you,
They will ^[g]closely examine you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ Who made the world like a ^(O)wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who ^(P)did not ^[h]allow his prisoners to go home?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
Each in his own ^[i]tomb.
¹⁹ But you have been ^(Q)hurled out of your tomb
Like ^[j]a rejected branch,
^[k]Clothed with those killed who have been pierced with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the ^(R)pit
Like a ^(S)trampled corpse.
²⁰ You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have killed your people.
May the ^(T)descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.
²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
Because of the ^(U)wrongdoing of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the surface of the world with cities.”