Isaiah 14-16

English Standard Version

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    ^(I)the insolent fury^[b] ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the ^(J)staff of the wicked,
    the ^(K)scepter of rulers,
^6 (L)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;
    ^(M)they break forth into singing.
^8 (N)(O)The cypresses rejoice at you,
    ^(P)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 (Q)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 ^(R)you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, ^(S)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
¹³ You said in your heart,
    ^(T)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    ^(U)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;^[c]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
^15 (V)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 ^(W)the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    ^(X)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;^[d]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
^(Y)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 ^(Z)the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
²¹ Prepare slaughter for his sons
    ^(AA)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
    and fill the face of the world with cities.”

²⁶ This is the purpose that is purposed
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is ^(AI)the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
^27 (AJ)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
^(AK)His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

²⁹ Rejoice not, ^(AN)O Philistia, all of you,
    that ^(AO)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
    and its fruit will be a ^(AP)flying fiery serpent.
³⁰ And the firstborn of ^(AQ)the poor will graze,
    and ^(AR)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
    and your remnant it will slay.
^31 (AS)Wail, O ^(AT)gate; cry out, O city;
    melt in fear, ^(AU)O Philistia, all of you!
^(AV)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?
^(AW)“The Lord has founded Zion,
    and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

Because ^(AZ)Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because ^(BA)Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.
² He has gone up to the temple,^[f] and to ^(BB)Dibon,
    to the high places^[g] to weep;
over ^(BC)Nebo and over ^(BD)Medeba
    Moab ^(BE)wails.
On every head is ^(BF)baldness;
    every beard is shorn;
³ in the streets they wear sackcloth;
    on the housetops and in the squares
    everyone wails and melts in tears.
^4 (BG)Heshbon and ^(BH)Elealeh cry out;
    their voice is heard as far as ^(BI)Jahaz;
therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
    his soul trembles.
⁵ My heart cries out for Moab;
    her fugitives flee to Zoar,
    to ^(BJ)Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ^(BK)ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to ^(BL)Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;
⁶ the waters of ^(BM)Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
    the greenery is no more.
^7 (BN)Therefore the abundance they have gained
    and what they have laid up
they carry away
    over the Brook of the Willows.
⁸ For a cry has gone
    around the land of Moab;
her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
    her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
⁹ For the waters of ^(BO)Dibon^[h] are full of blood;
    for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
^(BP)a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.
16 ^(BQ)Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from ^(BR)Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
² Like fleeing birds,
    like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at ^(BS)the fords of the Arnon.

³ “Give counsel;
    grant justice;
^(BT)make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
    do not reveal the fugitive;
⁴ let ^(BU)the outcasts of Moab
    sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them^[i]
    from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
^5 (BV)then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
    and on it will sit in faithfulness
    in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
    and is swift to do righteousness.”

^6 (BW)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    how proud he is!—
^(BX)of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    in his idle boasting he is not right.
⁷ Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
    ^(BY)let everyone wail.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the ^(BZ)raisin cakes of ^(CA)Kir-hareseth.

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and ^(CB)the vine of Sibmah;
the lords of the nations
    have struck down its branches,
which reached to Jazer
    and strayed to the desert;
its shoots spread abroad
    and passed over the sea.
⁹ Therefore ^(CC)I weep with ^(CD)the weeping of Jazer
    for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for over ^(CE)your summer fruit and your harvest
    the shout has ceased.
^10 (CF)And joy and gladness are taken away from ^(CG)the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no ^(CH)songs are sung,
    no cheers are raised;
no ^(CI)treader treads out wine ^(CJ)in the presses;
    I have put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ Therefore ^(CK)my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
    and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.