Isaiah 14:4-23

4 you will take up this 1taunt against the king of Babylon: "How the oppressor has ceased, 2the insolent fury[a] ceased!
5 The LORD has broken the 3staff of the wicked, the 4scepter of rulers,
6 5that 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; 6they break forth into singing.
8 The cypresses rejoice at you, 7the 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 8All 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 9you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, 10son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart, 11'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God 12I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;[b]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'
15 13But 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 14the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, 15who did not let his prisoners go home?'
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb;[c]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, 16clothed 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 17the offspring of evildoers nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons 18because 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 19remnant, 20descendants and posterity," declares the LORD.
23 "And I will make it a possession of the 21hedgehog,[d] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD of hosts.

Cross References 21

  • 1. Micah 2:4; Habakkuk 2:6
  • 2. [Jeremiah 51:13; Revelation 18:16]
  • 3. [Isaiah 9:4]
  • 4. [Isaiah 9:4]
  • 5. [Jeremiah 50:23]
  • 6. Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 55:12
  • 7. See Isaiah 2:13
  • 8. [Jeremiah 51:48]
  • 9. [Isaiah 24:21; Isaiah 34:3]
  • 10. [Job 38:7]
  • 11. Jeremiah 51:53; Amos 9:2; [Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15]
  • 12. Daniel 5:22, 23; [2 Thessalonians 2:4]
  • 13. Ezekiel 32:23; Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15
  • 14. [Jeremiah 50:23]
  • 15. [Jeremiah 50:33]
  • 16. [Ezekiel 32:20]
  • 17. Job 18:19; Psalms 21:10; Psalms 109:13
  • 18. [Exodus 20:5; Matthew 23:35]
  • 19. [Jeremiah 51:50, 62]
  • 20. Job 18:19; [Genesis 21:23]
  • 21. Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain
  • [b]. Or in the remote parts of Zaphon
  • [c]. Hebrew house
  • [d]. Possibly porcupine, or owl
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.