Isaiah 14:3-23

3 On the day the LORD gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you,
4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury[a] has ended!
5 The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression.
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.
8 Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you and say, “Now that you have been laid low, no one comes to cut us down.”
9 The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you— all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones— all those who were kings over the nations.
10 They will all respond, they will say to you, “You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.”
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.
12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?”
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
19 But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain, with those pierced by the sword, those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial, for you have destroyed your land and killed your people. Let the offspring of the wicked never be mentioned again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children for the sins of their ancestors; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities.
22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,” declares the LORD.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD Almighty.

Isaiah 14:3-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 14

This chapter contains prophecies of the restoration of the Jews, of the fall of the king of Babylon, and the destruction of the Assyrian empire, and of the ruin of Palestine. The moving cause of the restoration of the Jews, and their settlement in their own land, is the distinguishing mercy of God towards them; the accomplishment of it, proselytes joined unto them; the means, people of other nations, who should bring them into it, and whom they should possess and rule over; and the consequence of it, rest from sorrow, fear, and hard bondage, Isa 14:1-3 upon which they are introduced as taking up a proverb, or a triumphant song, concerning the king of Babylon, wondering at his fall, and ascribing it to the Lord, Isa 14:4,5 representing the inhabitants of the earth, and great men of it, as at peace, and rest, and rejoicing, who before were continually disturbed, and smitten by him, Isa 14:6-8 introducing the dead, and those in hell, meeting him, and welcoming him into their regions, with taunts and jeers; upbraiding him with his weakness, shame, and disgrace he was come into; putting him in mind of his former pomp and splendour, pride, arrogance, and haughtiness, Isa 14:9-15 spectators are brought in, as amazed at the low, mean, and despicable condition he was brought into, considering what he had done in the world, in kingdoms and cities, but was now denied a burial, when other kings lay in their pompous sepulchres, Isa 14:16-20 and then it is foretold that that whole royal family should be cut off, and Babylon, the metropolis of his kingdom, should be utterly destroyed, Isa 14:21-23 all which was settled and fixed by the purpose of God, which could not be made void, Isa 14:24-27 and next follows a prophecy of the destruction of Palestine; the date of the prophecy is given Isa 14:28 the inhabitants of Palestine are bid not to rejoice at the death of one of the kings of Judah, since another should arise, who would be fatal to them, Isa 14:29 and while the Jews would be in safety, they would be destroyed by famine and war, Isa 14:30,31 from all which it would appear, and it might be told the messengers of the nations, or any inquiring persons, that Zion is of the Lord's founding, and under his care and protection, and that his people have great reason and encouragement to trust in him, Isa 14:32.

Cross References 60

  • 1. S Isaiah 11:10
  • 2. S Job 3:17
  • 3. S Exodus 1:14
  • 4. Micah 2:4; Habakkuk 2:6
  • 5. S Isaiah 13:1
  • 6. S Isaiah 9:4
  • 7. S Isaiah 10:15
  • 8. S Psalms 125:3
  • 9. S Psalms 110:2
  • 10. Isaiah 10:14
  • 11. S Psalms 47:3
  • 12. S 2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 47:6; Habakkuk 1:17
  • 13. S Numbers 6:26; Jeremiah 50:34; Zechariah 1:11
  • 14. Psalms 98:1; Psalms 126:1-3; Isaiah 12:6
  • 15. S 1 Chronicles 16:33; S Psalms 65:13; Ezekiel 31:16
  • 16. S 2 Kings 19:23; Isaiah 37:24
  • 17. S Proverbs 30:16; Ezekiel 32:21
  • 18. S Job 26:5
  • 19. Zechariah 10:3
  • 20. S Job 3:14
  • 21. Ezekiel 26:20; Ezekiel 32:21
  • 22. S Numbers 16:30; S Proverbs 30:16
  • 23. Isaiah 5:12; Ezekiel 26:13; Amos 6:5
  • 24. S Job 7:5; Job 24:20; Isaiah 51:8; Isaiah 66:24
  • 25. S Job 21:26
  • 26. Isaiah 34:4; Luke 10:18
  • 27. 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 2:28; Revelation 8:10; Revelation 9:1
  • 28. Ezekiel 26:17
  • 29. Daniel 5:23; Daniel 8:10; Obadiah 1:4; Matthew 11:23
  • 30. Ezekiel 28:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4
  • 31. Psalms 82:1
  • 32. Isaiah 37:24
  • 33. S Job 20:6
  • 34. S Genesis 3:5; S Numbers 24:16; Isaiah 10:13; Isaiah 47:8; Jeremiah 50:29; Jeremiah 51:53; Daniel 11:36; 2 Thessalonians 2:4
  • 35. Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 47:11; Jeremiah 51:8,43
  • 36. S Job 21:13
  • 37. Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15
  • 38. S Psalms 55:23; Ezekiel 31:16; Ezekiel 32:23
  • 39. Jeremiah 50:23; Revelation 18:9
  • 40. S Isaiah 2:19; Isaiah 13:13; Joel 3:16; Haggai 2:6,21
  • 41. Isaiah 15:6; Joel 2:3
  • 42. Psalms 52:7
  • 43. Exodus 7:14; S 2 Kings 15:29; Jeremiah 50:33; Revelation 18:18
  • 44. Job 21:32
  • 45. Isaiah 22:16-18; Jeremiah 8:1; Jeremiah 36:30
  • 46. Isaiah 34:3
  • 47. S Isaiah 13:15
  • 48. Jeremiah 41:7-9
  • 49. S 1 Kings 21:19
  • 50. S Job 18:19
  • 51. S Isaiah 1:4
  • 52. S Deuteronomy 32:26; Psalms 21:10
  • 53. S Numbers 16:27
  • 54. S Genesis 9:25; Exodus 20:5; S Leviticus 26:39
  • 55. S Psalms 94:16
  • 56. S Job 18:17; Psalms 109:13; Nahum 1:14
  • 57. 2 Samuel 18:18; 1 Kings 14:10; Job 18:19; S Psalms 9:6; S Isaiah 13:18
  • 58. S Leviticus 11:16-18; Isaiah 34:11-15; Zephaniah 2:14
  • 59. S Isaiah 10:3; Jeremiah 25:12
  • 60. Jeremiah 50:3; Jeremiah 51:62

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  • [b]. Or "of the north" ; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.