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Isaiah 14
Good News Translation
Isaiah 14
Good News Translation
The Return from Exile
14 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them.
The King of Babylon in the World of the Dead
3 The Lord will give the people of Israel relief from their pain and suffering and from the hard work they were forced to do. 4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say:
“The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone!
9 “The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, ‘Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.’”
12 (A)King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 (B)You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.
16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?”
18 All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, 19 but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. 20 Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. 21 Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities.
God Will Destroy Babylon
22 The Lord Almighty says, “I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing—no children, no survivors at all. I, the Lord, have spoken. 23 I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”
God Will Destroy the Assyrians
24 (C)The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: “What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. 25 I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. 26 This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations.” 27 The Lord Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him.
God Will Destroy the Philistines
28 (D)This is a message that was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died.
29 (E)People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon. 30 The Lord will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive.
31 Howl and cry for help, all you Philistine cities! Be terrified, all of you! A cloud of dust is coming from the north—it is an army with no cowards in its ranks.
32 How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the Lord has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.
Isaiah 14
New International Version
Isaiah 14
New International Version
14 The Lord will have compassion(A) on Jacob;
once again he will choose(B) Israel
and will settle them in their own land.(C)
Foreigners(D) will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
2 Nations will take them
and bring(E) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(F)
and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(G) of their captors
and rule over their oppressors.(H)
3 On the day the Lord gives you relief(I) from your suffering and turmoil(J) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(K) 4 you will take up this taunt(L) against the king of Babylon:(M)
How the oppressor(N) has come to an end!
How his fury[a] has ended!
5 The Lord has broken the rod(O) of the wicked,(P)
the scepter(Q) of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples(R)
with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(S) nations
with relentless aggression.(T)
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace;(U)
they break into singing.(V)
8 Even the junipers(W) and the cedars of Lebanon
gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.”(X)
9 The realm of the dead(Y) below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(Z) to greet you—
all those who were leaders(AA) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.(AB)
10 They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”(AC)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(AD)
along with the noise of your harps;(AE)
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms(AF) cover you.(AG)
12 How you have fallen(AH) from heaven,
morning star,(AI) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!(AJ)
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend(AK) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(AL)
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(AM)
on the utmost heights(AN) of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(AO)
I will make myself like the Most High.”(AP)
15 But you are brought down(AQ) to the realm of the dead,(AR)
to the depths(AS) of the pit.(AT)
16 Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:(AU)
“Is this the man who shook(AV) the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(AW)
who overthrew(AX) its cities
and would not let his captives go home?”(AY)
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.(AZ)
19 But you are cast out(BA) of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(BB)
with those pierced by the sword,(BC)
those who descend to the stones of the pit.(BD)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,(BE)
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspring(BF) of the wicked(BG)
never be mentioned(BH) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(BI)
for the sins of their ancestors;(BJ)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
22 “I will rise up(BK) against them,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(BL) and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,(BM)”
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(BN)
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(BO)”
declares the Lord Almighty.(BP)
24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(BQ)
“Surely, as I have planned,(BR) so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(BS)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(BT) in my land;
on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(BU) will be taken from my people,
and his burden removed from their shoulders.(BV)”
26 This is the plan(BW) determined for the whole world;
this is the hand(BX) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(BY) and who can thwart him?
His hand(BZ) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(CA)
A Prophecy Against the Philistines
28 This prophecy(CB) came in the year(CC) King Ahaz(CD) died:
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(CE)
that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(CF)
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(CG)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needy(CH) will lie down in safety.(CI)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(CJ)
it will slay(CK) your survivors.(CL)
31 Wail,(CM) you gate!(CN) Howl, you city!
Melt away, all you Philistines!(CO)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(CP)
and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(CQ)
32 What answer shall be given
to the envoys(CR) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(CS)
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(CT)”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.