Isaiah 14:2

Former slaves (the people from Israel) will exchange roles with their former masters (the people from Babylon).

The fate of the king of Babylon

v3 The *Lord will bring relief from pain to his people. He will bring them relief from what they suffered as slaves. v4 Then they will laugh at the powerful king of Babylon when they sing this song:

‘See how that cruel criminal has come to his end!

He will never attack us again.’

v5-6 The *Lord has broken the power of the evil rulers. They struck whole nations with angry blows. They never stopped their cruelty to the inhabitants. v7 Everywhere there is now peace. All nations are singing with joy. v8 Even the great trees in Lebanon seem to be glad. Since the king died, nobody has chopped them.

v9 *Sheol is very excited. The spirits of dead rulers know that the spirit of the dead king of Babylon is coming to join them. v10 They will say to him, ‘Now you are just as weak as any of us! v11 Your proud power and your music have ended here in *Sheol. You lie on a bed of *worms. And *worms cover you like a blanket. v12 How you have fallen from the sky, you bright Morning Star! In the past you overcame other nations. Now you have suffered the same fate. God has chopped you to the ground, just as men cut down a tree.

v13 You proudly said to yourself, “I shall climb up to heaven. I shall place my royal seat above the highest stars. I shall sit with the gods, far away in the north. v14 I shall be above the clouds, just like God Most High.”

v15 But instead, God has sent you to the deepest part of *Sheol.’

v16 Those who see you will stare at you. This is the man who made the world tremble. This is the man who shook countries. v17 He overcame cities. He made the earth a desert. He is the cruel king who refused to let prisoners go home.

v18 When kings die, men bury them with honour in a splendid royal grave. v19 But nobody will bury you. You will be just another dead body, like a dead branch on the ground. You will be like dead soldiers after a battle. People throw the bodies into a hole, one on top of another. v20 Men will not bury you with honour, as they have buried other kings. Because it was your own land that you ruined. It was your own people that you murdered. No son of yours will ever be king. v21 We shall kill your sons. We shall make them pay for the crimes of their father. Your sons will never *seize the world. They will not build new cities everywhere, as you did. v22-23 The *Lord will ruin the city called Babylon, so that it is merely a home for wild animals. And he will flood the country that surrounds the city.