Isaiah 14

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.”