Mercy on Jacob

For the Lord ^awill have mercy on Jacob, and ^bwill still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. ^cThe strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. 2 Then people will take them ^aand bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, ^band rule over their oppressors.

Fall of the King of Babylon

3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you ^awill take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

“How the oppressor has ceased,

The ^bgolden¹ city ceased!

5

The Lord has broken ^athe staff of the wicked,

The scepter of the rulers;

6

He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,

He who ruled the nations in anger,

Is persecuted and no one hinders.

7

The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

They break forth into singing.

8

^aIndeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,

And the cedars of Lebanon,

Saying, ‘Since you ¹were cut down,

No woodsman has come up against us.’

9

“Hell^a¹ from beneath is excited about you,

To meet you at your coming;

It stirs up the dead for you,

All the chief ones of the earth;

It has raised up from their thrones

All the kings of the nations.

10

They all shall ^aspeak and say to you:

‘Have you also become as weak as we?

Have you become like us?

11

Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

And the sound of your stringed instruments;

The maggot is spread under you,

And worms cover you.’

The Fall of Lucifer

12

“How^a you are fallen from heaven,

O ¹Lucifer, son of the morning!

How you are cut down to the ground,

You who weakened the nations!

13

For you have said in your heart:

^a‘I will ascend into heaven,

^bI will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the ^cmount of the congregation

^dOn the farthest sides of the north;

14

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

^aI will be like the Most High.’

15

Yet you ^ashall be brought down to Sheol,

To the ¹lowest depths of the Pit.

16

“Those who see you will gaze at you,

And consider you, saying:

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17

Who made the world as a wilderness

And destroyed its cities,

Who ¹did not open the house of his prisoners?’

18

“All the kings of the nations,

All of them, sleep in glory,

Everyone in his own house;

19

But you are cast out of your grave

Like an ¹abominable branch,

Like the garment of those who are slain,

²Thrust through with a sword,

Who go down to the stones of the pit,

Like a corpse trodden underfoot.

20

You will not be joined with them in burial,

Because you have destroyed your land

And slain your people.

^aThe brood of evildoers shall never be named.

21

Prepare slaughter for his children

^aBecause of the iniquity of their fathers,

Lest they rise up and possess the land,

And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Babylon Destroyed

22

“For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,

“And cut off from Babylon ^athe name and ^bremnant,

^cAnd offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.

23

“I will also make it a possession for the ^aporcupine,

And marshes of muddy water;

I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.

Assyria Destroyed

24

The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,

“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,

And as I have purposed, so it shall ^astand:

25

That I will break the ^aAssyrian in My land,

And on My mountains tread him underfoot.

Then ^bhis yoke shall be removed from them,

And his burden removed from their shoulders.

26

This is the ^apurpose that is purposed against the whole earth,

And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

27

For the Lord of hosts has ^apurposed,

And who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out,

And who will turn it back?”

Philistia Destroyed

28 This is the ¹burden which came in the year that ^aKing Ahaz died.

29

“Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,

^aBecause the rod that struck you is broken;

For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,

^bAnd its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.

30

The firstborn of the poor will feed,

And the needy will lie down in safety;

I will kill your roots with famine,

And it will slay your remnant.

31

Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!

All you of Philistia are dissolved;

For smoke will come from the north,

And no one will be alone in his ¹appointed times.”

32

What will they answer the messengers of the nation?

That ^athe Lord has founded Zion,

And ^bthe poor of His people shall take refuge in it.