| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel. | 1For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. |
| 2The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the LORD’s land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies. | 2The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors. |
| 3In that wonderful day when the LORD gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, | 3On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced, |
| 4you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say, “The mighty man has been destroyed. Yes, your insolence is ended. | 4you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended! |
| 5For the LORD has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule. | 5The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. |
| 6You struck the people with endless blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip with unrelenting tyranny. | 6It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution. |
| 7But finally the earth is at rest and quiet. Now it can sing again! | 7All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song. |
| 8Even the trees of the forest— the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon— sing out this joyous song: ‘Since you have been cut down, no one will come now to cut us down!’ | 8Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.” |
| 9“In the place of the dead there is excitement over your arrival. The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead stand up to see you. | 9Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones. |
| 10With one voice they all cry out, ‘Now you are as weak as we are! | 10They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!” |
| 11Your might and power were buried with you. The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet, and worms your blanket.’ | 11Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket. |
| 12“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. | 12How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations. |
| 13For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. | 13You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north. |
| 14I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ | 14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” |
| 15Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. | 15But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. |
| 16Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble? | 16Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble, |
| 17Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’ | 17who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?” |
| 18“The kings of the nations lie in stately glory, each in his own tomb, | 18All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb. |
| 19but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit. | 19But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot. |
| 20You will not be given a proper burial, for you have destroyed your nation and slaughtered your people. The descendants of such an evil person will never again receive honor. | 20You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned. |
| 21Kill this man’s children! Let them die because of their father’s sins! They must not rise and conquer the earth, filling the world with their cities.” | 21Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities. |
| 22This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “I, myself, have risen against Babylon! I will destroy its children and its children’s children,” says the LORD. | 22“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD. |
| 23“I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls, filled with swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” A Message about Assyria | 23“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts. |
| 24The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath: “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided. | 24The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand. |
| 25I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel; I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be their slaves nor bow down under their heavy loads. | 25I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.” |
| 26I have a plan for the whole earth, a hand of judgment upon all the nations. | 26This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations. |
| 27The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken— who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?” A Message about Philistia | 27The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back? |
| 28This message came to me the year King Ahaz died: | 28In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received: |
| 29Do not rejoice, you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken— that the king who attacked you is dead. For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born, a fiery serpent to destroy you! | 29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg. |
| 30I will feed the poor in my pasture; the needy will lie down in peace. But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine and destroy the few who remain. | 30Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be slain. |
| 31Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities! Melt with fear, you Philistines! A powerful army comes like smoke from the north. Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight. | 31Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there are no stragglers in its ranks. |
| 32What should we tell the Philistine messengers? Tell them, “The LORD has built Jerusalem ; its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people.” | 32What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.” |
|
