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14. Prophecy Against Babylon

¹ The LORD will have compassion on Jacob;
   once again he will choose Israel
   and will settle them in their own land.
Foreigners will join them
   and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
² Nations will take them
   and bring them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations
   and make them male and female servants in the LORD’s land.
They will make captives of their captors
   and rule over their oppressors.

³ On the day the LORD gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, ⁴ you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

   How the oppressor has come to an end!
   How his fury Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain. has ended!
⁵ The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked,
   the scepter of the rulers,
⁶ which in anger struck down peoples
   with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued nations
   with relentless aggression.
⁷ All the lands are at rest and at peace;
   they break into singing.
⁸ Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon
   gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
   no one comes to cut us down.”

    ⁹ The realm of the dead below is all astir
   to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
   all those who were leaders in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
   all those who were kings over the nations.
¹⁰ They will all respond,
   they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
   you have become like us.”
¹¹ All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
   along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
   and worms cover you.

    ¹² How you have fallen from heaven,
   morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
   you who once laid low the nations!
¹³ You said in your heart,
   “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
   above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
   on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
   I will make myself like the Most High.”
¹⁵ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
   to the depths of the pit.

    ¹⁶ Those who see you stare at you,
   they ponder your fate:
“Is this the man who shook the earth
   and made kingdoms tremble,
¹⁷ the man who made the world a wilderness,
   who overthrew its cities
   and would not let his captives go home?”

    ¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in state,
   each in his own tomb.
¹⁹ But you are cast out of your tomb
   like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,
   with those pierced by the sword,
   those who descend to the stones of the pit.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
    ²⁰ you will not join them in burial,
for you have destroyed your land
   and killed your people.

   Let the offspring of the wicked
   never be mentioned again.
²¹ Prepare a place to slaughter his children
   for the sins of their ancestors;
they are not to rise to inherit the land
   and cover the earth with their cities.

    ²² “I will rise up against them,”
   declares the LORD Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors,
   her offspring and descendants,” declares the LORD.
²³ “I will turn her into a place for owls
   and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,”
   declares the LORD Almighty.

²⁴ The LORD Almighty has sworn,

   “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
   and as I have purposed, so it will happen.
²⁵ I will crush the Assyrian in my land;
   on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke will be taken from my people,
   and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

    ²⁶ This is the plan determined for the whole world;
   this is the hand stretched out over all nations.
²⁷ For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
   His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

²⁸ This prophecy came in the year King Ahaz died:

    ²⁹ Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,
   that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,
   its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.
³⁰ The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
   and the needy will lie down in safety.
But your root I will destroy by famine;
   it will slay your survivors.

    ³¹ Wail, you gate! Howl, you city!
   Melt away, all you Philistines!
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,
   and there is not a straggler in its ranks.
³² What answer shall be given
   to the envoys of that nation?
“The LORD has established Zion,
   and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”

28. In the year that King Ahaz died. Here the fifteenth chapter ought to have begun, for the Prophet enters on a new subject; and this plainly shows how absurdly the chapters are divided, or rather torn asunder. Having spoken of the Babylonians, he passes to the Philistines; ²³⁰²³⁰ {Bogus footnote} or, perhaps, before speaking of the Babylonians, he addressed the Philistines, who, being the near neighbors of the Jews, cherished deadly hostility against them. They were the remainder of those nations whom the Israelites spared, though the Lord had commanded that they should be removed out of the midst of them. (Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:16.) Their unbelief in this matter was the reason why the Lord left these nations to be thorns, that they might prick their eyes; as the Scripture shows that the Lord had formerly threatened against them. (Numbers 33:55.) In consequence of the deadly animosities which existed between these two nations, whenever the Jews sustained any defeat, the Philistines reckoned it to be so much gain to themselves; for they wished the ruin of the Jews, and no occurrence could give them greater delight than when the Jews were reduced to the deepest adversity and distress. The Prophet therefore prophesies against them as against the constant enemies of the Church.

It is proper to attend to the time when this vision was exhibited to the Prophet. So long as Ahaz lived, the Philistines were victorious. That wicked hypocrite, who had forsaken God, and eagerly sought the outward assistance of man, was punished for his treachery. During his reign the Philistines (2 Chronicles 28:18) recovered those towns which Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:6, 7) had taken out of their hands; but after his death, they became still more courageous, for they expected that they would then gain all that they desired, because he who had been left as his heir was still a child; for Hezekiah, the new king, had neither shrewdness, nor authority, nor wisdom. These circumstances, therefore, ought to be carefully observed; for Isaiah has not the Philistines so much in his view, though he speaks to them, as the godly, whom he wishes to comfort and strengthen with good hope by this prophecy, who would otherwise have thought that the condition of Judea was entirely ruined, because they were attacked by enemies on all sides, and no assistance of any kind could be seen. To those persons, therefore, in their distressed and forlorn condition, Isaiah stretches out his hand, and bids them be of good courage, because the Lord would undoubtedly assist them.

This burden. He calls this prophecy a burden, because it would be disagreeable and painful to the Philistines, who thought that they had got rid of every annoyance, because the Jews were hard pressed, and had no hope of bettering their condition; and therefore he threatens that the destruction of the Philistines also is at hand.