Isaiah
Chapter 14
Return from Exile
The Lord will take pity on Jacob; he will choose Israel again and settle them in their own land. Then foreigners will join them and be counted with the people of Jacob.
Nations will take them and bring them to their own place. But as soon as they are back home, the people of Israel will subdue them and make them servants and maids. Thus the people of Israel will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
On the day the Lord gives you rest from your suffering and turmoil, from your fear and your cruel bondage,
you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
Satire Against the King of Babylon
How has oppression ceased?
How has the strongman ended?
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the tyrant
who struck down the people with blow after blow, who ruled the nations in anger, with unrelenting persecution.
The whole earth is at rest and at peace, breaking forth into song.
Even the cypresses exult and the cedars of Lebanon say: “Now that you have fallen, no loggers come to cut us down.”
The netherworld is all astir to meet you when you come. It stirs up the dead to greet you, all who were leaders of the world. It raises from their thrones, all who were kings of the nations.
They all speak and say to you: “You have also been thrown to the ground and have become like us!
All your pomp has been brought down to the kingdom of death, along with the sound of your harps. Maggots are the bed beneath you and worms are your blanket.”
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cast down to the ground, you who mowed down the nations!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne higher than the stars of God; I will sit on the Mount of Assembly, in the far recesses of the North.
I will climb up above the clouds; I will be like the Most High!”
But down to the netherworld you go, to the deep recesses of the Pit.
All who see you stare at you and ponder over your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms quake,
who made the world a waste, who overthrew its cities and would not give its captives release?”
All kings of nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
You are nevertheless cast out of the tomb, like a rejected untimely birth, like a trampled corpse buried under the slaughtered, under those cut down by the sword, thrown into the common grave.
You were not given a monument for you have brought your land to ruin, and caused your people to be slain. May the descendants of evildoers never be mentioned again!
Go up, slaughter the sons for the sins of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the land and cover the earth with their cities.
“I will rise up against them,” says the Lord Sabaoth. “I will cut off from Babylon her name, her remnant, offspring, and posterity,” says the Lord.
“I will turn her into a swampland, a habitation of reptiles and crocodiles; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord Sabaoth.
Against the King of Assyria
The Lord Sabaoth has sworn: “As I have planned, so will it be! As I have decided, so will I do;
I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, trample him down on my mountains; take his yoke off my people’s necks, and remove his burden from their shoulders.
This is the sentence he pronounced for the whole earth, with his hand stretched out over all nations.
The Lord has decided, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
Against Philistia
8In the year King Ahaz died, this oracle was proclaimed:
“Rejoice not, all you Philistines, that the rod which smote you is broken; for from the snake’s root will come forth a viper, and its offspring will be a flying dragon.
On that day, my poor will have their fill with the fruits of my fields, and the helpless will rest secure. But through famine, I will kill your children and slay even your remnant.”
Wail, O gate! Cry, O city! tremble in fear, all you Philistines! For smoke comes from the north— a great army sweeps down on you.
What answer will then be given to the messengers of that nation? “The Lord has laid the foundation of Zion, and there his afflicted people will take refuge.”
Commentaries
Return from Exile.
The Lord’s compassion is shown through his act of bringing the exiles back to Babylon and welcoming foreigners into his people. These verses reflect the historical context of Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 49-55), which dates to the sixth century B.C., two centuries after Isaiah’s calling. God’s anger is aimed at the conversion and cleansing of his people. Threats and punishment are followed by comfort and hope.
Against the King of Babylon.
These verses depict the fall of a mighty man who became arrogant. It presents an apocalyptic scene where God punishes his enemies on “the day of the Lord” (Jl 1:1-2; Zep 1:17-18). Chapter 8 of Revelation shows a similar scene where a rebellious angel is thrown out of heaven (Rev 8:10; 9:1). Adam and Eve were also expelled from paradise for trying to be like God (Gn 3:5; cf. Isaiah 14:14). This oracle may have been used earlier against the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who, after destroying several cities in Samaria and Judah and besieging Jerusalem, went back to Nineveh, where he was assassinated by his own family in 682 B.C. (Is 37:37-38).
Against the King of Assyria.
When Assyria is at the peak of its power, Isaiah predicts its downfall. This prophecy is part of God’s plan for Israel and all nations (26).
Against Philistia.
The Philistines unsuccessfully attempted to ally themselves with King Hezekiah of Judah in order to rebel against Assyria. In 713 B.C., they were defeated and humiliated by Sargon II. Isaiah opposed any military alliance, either supporting or opposing Assyria (cf. Is 7:1-25).