14:1 The LORD will certainly have
compassion on Jacob;1
he will again choose Israel as his special people2
and restore3
them to their land. Resident aliens will join them and unite with the family4
of Jacob. 14:2 Nations will take them and bring
them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners
their servants as they settle in the LORD’s land.5
They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.
14:3 When the LORD gives you relief from your suffering
and anxiety, and from the hard labor which you were made to perform, 14:4
you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words:6
“Look how the oppressor has met his end!
Hostility7
has ceased!
14:5 The LORD has broken the club of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
14:6 It8
furiously struck down nations
with unceasing blows.9
It angrily ruled over nations,
oppressing them without restraint.10
14:7 The whole earth rests and is quiet;
they break into song.
14:8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise,11
as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing,12
‘Since you fell asleep,13
no woodsmen comes up to chop us down.’14
14:9 Sheol15
below is stirred up about you,
ready to meet you when you arrive.
It arouses16
the spirits of the dead for you,
all the former leaders of the earth;17
it makes all the former kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.18
14:10 All of them respond to you, saying:
‘You’ve also become ill like us,
you’ve become just like us.
14:11 Your splendor19
has been brought down to Sheol,
as well as the sound of your stringed instruments.20
You lie on a bed of maggots,
with a blanket of worms over you.21
14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!22
You’ve been cut to the ground,
O conqueror23
of the nations!24
14:13 You said to yourself,25
“I will climb up to the sky.
Above the stars of El26
I will erect my throne.
I will rule on the mountain of assembly,
on the remote slopes of Zaphon.27
14:14 I will climb up to the tops28
of the clouds,
I will make myself like the Most High.”29
14:15 But you were brought down30
to Sheol,
to the remote slopes of the pit.31
14:16 Those who see you stare at you,
they look at you carefully, thinking:32
“Is this the man who shook the earth,
the one who made kingdoms tremble?
14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,
who ruined its33
cities,
and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’34
14:1835As
for all the kings of the nations,
all of them36
lie down in splendor,37
each in his own tomb.38
14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave,
like a shoot that is thrown away.39
You lie among40
the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for41
the stones of the pit,42
as if you were a mangled corpse.43
14:20 You will not be buried with them,44
because you destroyed your land,
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again.
14:21 Prepare to execute45
his sons,
for what their ancestors have done.46
The must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.”47
14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the LORD who leads armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people,48
including the offspring she produces,”49
says the LORD.
14:23 “I will turn her into a place that is
overrun with wild animals,50
and covered with pools of stagnant water.
I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,”51
says the LORD who leads armies.
14:2452
The LORD who leads armies makes this solemn vow:
“Be sure of this: Just as I have intended, so it will be,
just as I have planned, it will happen.
14:25 I will break Assyria53
in my land,
I will trample them54
underfoot on my hills.
Their yoke will be removed from the people,
the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.55
14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;
my hand is ready to strike all the nations.”56
14:27 Indeed57
the LORD who leads armies has a plan,
and who can possibly frustrate it?
His hand is ready to strike,
and who can possibly stop it?58
The Lord Will Judge the Philistines
14:28 In the year King Ahaz died,59
this message was revealed:60
14:29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,
just because the club that beat you has been broken!61
For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,
and its fruit will be a darting adder.62
14:30 The poor will graze in my pastures,63
the needy will rest securely.
But I will kill your root by famine,
it will put to death all your people.64
14:31 Wail, O city gate!
Cry out, O city!
Melt with fear,65
all you Philistines!
For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks.66
14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of
this nation?67
Indeed the LORD has made Zion secure,
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.