Isaiah 14
1Her time is drawing near, and her days will not be prolonged. For the Lord will take pity on Jacob, and he will still choose from Israel, and he will cause them to rest upon their own soil. And the new arrival will be joined to them, and he will adhere to the house of Jacob.
2And the people will take them, and lead them to their place. And the house of Israel will possess them, in the land of the Lord, as men and women servants. And they will take captive those who had taken them captive. And they will subjugate their oppressors.
3And this shall be in that day: when God will have given you rest from your labor, and from your oppression, and from the difficult servitude under which you served before,
4you will accept this parable against the king of Babylon, and you will say: “How is it that the oppressor has ceased, along with his tribute?
5The Lord has crushed the staff of the impious, the scepter of despots,
6which struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, which subjugated the nations in fury, which persecuted with cruelty.
7All the earth has become quiet and still; it has been gladdened and has rejoiced.
8The evergreens, too, have rejoiced over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying: ‘Since you have slept, no one has ascended who would cut us down.’
9Hell below was stirred up to meet you at your advent; it has awakened the giants for you. All the leaders of the earth have risen from their thrones, all the leaders among the nations.”
10Everyone will respond and will say to you: “Now you are wounded, just as we were; you have become like us.
11Your arrogance has been dragged down to Hell. Your body has fallen dead. The moths will be strewn beneath you, and the worms will be your covering.
12How is it that you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who used to rise like the sun? How is it that you have fallen to the earth, you who wounded the peoples?
13And you said in your heart: ‘I will climb up to heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be enthroned upon the mountain of the covenant, on the northern parts.
14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.’
15Yet truly, you shall be dragged down to Hell, into the depths of the pit.
16Those who see you, will lean toward you, and will gaze upon you, saying: ‘Could this be the man who disturbed the earth, who shook kingdoms,
17who made the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who would not even open a prison for his prisoners?’ ”
18All the kings of the nations throughout the whole world have slept in glory, each man in his own house.
19But you have been rejected from your grave, like a useless polluted plant, and you have been bound up with those who were slain by the sword, and who descended to the bottom of the pit, like a rotting carcass.
20You will not be associated with them, even in the grave. For you have destroyed your own land; you have slain your own people. The offspring of the wicked ones will not be called upon for eternity.
21Prepare his sons for the slaughter, according to the iniquity of their fathers. They will not rise up, nor inherit the earth, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
22But I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts. And I will perish the name of Babylon and its remnants: both the plant and its progeny, says the Lord.
23And I will appoint it as a possession for the hedgehog, with swamps of water. And I will sweep it out and wear it away with a brush, says the Lord of hosts.
24The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying: Surely, just as I have considered it, so shall it be, and in the same manner as I have drawn it through my mind,
25so shall it occur. So shall I crush the Assyrian in my land, and I will trample him upon my mountains, and his yoke will be taken away from them, and his burden will be removed from their shoulder.
26This is the plan that I have decided, concerning the entire earth, and this is the hand which is extended over all the nations.
27For the Lord of hosts has decreed it, and who is able to weaken it? And his hand is extended, so who can avert it?
28In the year in which king Ahaz died, this burden was given:
29You should not rejoice, all you of Philistia, that the rod of him who struck you has been crushed. For from the root of the serpent will go forth a king snake, and his offspring will engulf that which flies.
30And the firstborn of the poor will be pastured, and the poor will rest in faithfulness. And I will cause your root to pass away by famine, and I will put to death your remnant.
31Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! All of Philistia has been prostrated. For a smoke will arrive from the north, and there is no one who will escape his army.
32And what will be the response to this news among the nations? It will be that the Lord has established Zion, and that the poor of his people will hope in him.
1For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
2And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
4That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
5The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
6He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
7The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
8Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
9Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
10All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
11Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
17That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
18All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
19But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
20Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
21Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
22For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.
23I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.
24The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
25That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
31Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.