1For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob , and will yet choose Israel , and set them in their own land : and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob . 2And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place : and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids : and they shall take them captives , whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors . 3And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow , and from thy fear , and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve , 4That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon , and say , How hath the oppressor ceased ! the golden city ceased ! 5The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked , and the sceptre of the rulers . 6He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke , he that ruled the nations in anger , is persecuted , and none hindereth . 7The whole earth is at rest , and is quiet : they break forth into singing . 8Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon , saying , Since thou art laid down , no feller is come up against us. 9Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming : it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth ; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations . 10All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11Thy pomp is brought down to the grave , and the noise of thy viols : the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12How art thou fallen from heaven , O Lucifer , son of the morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground , which didst weaken the nations ! 13For thou hast said in thine heart , I will ascend into heaven , I will exalt my throne above the stars of God : I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation , in the sides of the north : 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the most High . 15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell , to the sides of the pit .
The Desolation of Babylon
16They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble , that did shake kingdoms ; 17That made the world as a wilderness , and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners ? 18All the kings of the nations , even all of them, lie in glory , every one in his own house . 19But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch , and as the raiment of those that are slain , thrust through with a sword , that go down to the stones of the pit ; as a carcase trodden under feet . 20Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial , because thou hast destroyed thy land , and slain thy people : the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned . 21Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers ; that they do not rise , nor possess the land , nor fill the face of the world with cities . 22For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts , and cut off from Babylon the name , and remnant , and son , and nephew , saith the LORD . 23I will also make it a possession for the bittern , and pools of water : and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction , saith the LORD of hosts .
The Purpose of God Against the Nations
24The LORD of hosts hath sworn , saying , Surely as I have thought , so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed , so shall it stand : 25That I will break the Assyrian in my land , and upon my mountains tread him under foot : then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders . 26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth : and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations . 27For the LORD of hosts hath purposed , and who shall disannul it ? and his hand is stretched out , and who shall turn it back ? 28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden . 29Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina , because the rod of him that smote thee is broken : for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice , and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent . 30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed , and the needy shall lie down in safety : and I will kill thy root with famine , and he shall slay thy remnant . 31Howl , O gate ; cry , O city ; thou, whole Palestina , art dissolved : for there shall come from the north a smoke , and none shall be alone in his appointed times . 32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation ? That the LORD hath founded Zion , and the poor of his people shall trust in it.