Isa 14 | EE | STEP | The LORD will be sorry for Jacob and he will choose Israel again. Then he will give them rest in their own country. Also, people from a foreign country will join themselves to the people of Jacob. They will really become united with them.

Isaiah 14

A few words about Israel

1 The LORD will be sorry for Jacob and he will choose Israel again. Then he will give them rest in their own country. Also, people from a foreign country will join themselves to the people of Jacob. They will really become united with them. 2 And the foreign people will take the people of Israel and they will bring them to their own country, Israel. Then Israel’s people will rule the foreign people in the LORD‘s country. The foreign people will become male and female slaves. So the people who made Israel prisoners, will be prisoners themselves! Israel will rule over the people who were cruel to them.

Words about the king of Babylon

3 On that day, this will happen. The LORD will give you rest from these things:

· all your pain and illnesses

· the cruel way that your enemies caused you to work.

4 You will laugh at the king of Babylon. Then you will say to him, ‘Now you cannot be cruel to us, nor can you attack us!

5 The LORD has destroyed the authority of bad people. He has removed the power of the rulers of Babylon.

6 The rulers of Babylon hit many people because they were angry with them. They never stopped hitting them. They were very angry, so they attacked other countries. They never stopped fighting them.

7 But now there is no war in the whole world and it can rest. Everyone is so happy that they are singing!

8 Even the pine trees and the cedar trees in Lebanon are happy. They say this to you, king of Babylon: “Since the LORD beat you, nobody has come to cut us down!”

9 When you arrive there, you will get much interest from the people in Sheol. People there will come to meet you! You will wake the Rephaim, who were all leaders on the earth. They will come to say, “welcome” to you. All who were kings of their countries will stand up from their seats.

10 All of them will speak to you and they will say this. “Even you have become as weak as we are! You have become like us!”

11 Your pride will bring you down to Sheol with the noise of your harps. Under you will be a bed of maggots and over you will be a blanket of worms.’

More words about the king of Babylon ^{▼▼14:11 Some Christians believe that these words in verses 12-15 are really about Satan.}

12 ‘Look at you! You have fallen from the skies!

You shine. You are called the Son of the Dawn!
You made many countries low, but now you are low yourself!

13 You said in your mind, “I will go up into the heavens.

I will put my seat above the stars of God.
I will sit in the mountain in the far north with God’s leaders.

14 I will rise above the tops of the clouds. I will be like the Most-High.”

15 But he has brought you down to Sheol, to the deepest Pit!’

More words about the king of Babylon

16 ‘The people who see you will really look at you. They will think this about you. “This is the man who caused the earth to shake. He caused countries to shake. It is hard to believe it now.

17 This is the man who made the world like a desert. He destroyed its cities. He did not let his prisoners go back to their homes.”

18 All the kings of all the countries – yes! all of them – lie down in a good place. Each king lies in his own grave.

19 But you, they will throw you out without a grave! You will be like a branch that people throw away. Or you will be like the clothes of a dead man that a sword has cut. You will be like someone who fell on to the stones in a big hole. Or you will be like a dead body that people have kicked.

20 They will not bury you with those other kings. Here are the reasons:

· You have destroyed your country.

· You have killed your own people.

Nobody will ever remember again this son of very bad people!

21 Prepare a place where they will kill his children. They will kill them because their parents sinned. Then his children will not rule the world and they will not fill it with cities.’

22 ‘I will fight against them’, says the LORD of Many Armies. The LORD of Many Armies also says, ‘I will remove the name of Babylon. I will remove its people who remain, their children and their children’s children.’ 23 The LORD of Many Armies says this also: ‘I will make Babylon a place where owls live. Also, it will be a place where there are pools of water. And I will take it away completely like a man sweeps things away with a brush.’

A few words about the man from Assyria

24 The LORD of Many Armies has made a serious promise. ‘It will happen as my plan says. I have decided what I will do. And I will really do it. 25 I will kill the man from Assyria in my country. Also, I will put him under my feet on my mountains. Then, he will not be cruel to my people. Also, they will not have to carry his heavy weights again.’ 26 That is the plan that he made for the whole earth. And it is the hand that he lifted over all the nations. 27 It is the plan of the LORD of Many Armies. Nobody can change it. He has lifted up his hand. Nobody can change it.

A few words about Philistia

28 In the year that King Ahaz died, Isaiah received this message:

29 ‘Do not feel happy, you people in Philistia. God has broken the stick that hit you. But from that stick a dangerous snake will come. And from that snake will come a snake that can fly!

30 The poorest people among my people will sleep safely. And they will be able to feed their sheep in my green fields. But I will cause your people in Philistia to die because there will be no food. And I will kill the people who remain.

31 Gate of the city, cry! City itself, scream! Move away, all you people in Philistia! Do that because smoke will come from the north. Everybody in that army will march quickly.’ ^{▼▼14:31 Verse 31 The gate in a city was the place where important people met. So the word ‘gate’ here may mean those important people.}

32 ‘What should we say to the people who bring messages from the government? Say that the LORD has built Zion. And say that his poor people will be safe there.’