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Restoration of Judah14 But the L ord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land; and aliens will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess the nations as male and female slaves in the L ord’s land; they will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them. Downfall of the King of Babylon3 When the L ord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased! How his insolence has ceased! 5 The L ord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, 6 that struck down the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution. 7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. 8 The cypresses exult over you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you were laid low, no one comes to cut us down.” 9 Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. 10 All of them will speak and say to you: “You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!” 11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your harps; maggots are the bed beneath you, and worms are your covering.
12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; 14 I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. 16 Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who would not let his prisoners go home?” 18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; 19 but you are cast out, away from your grave, like loathsome carrion, clothed with the dead, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit, like a corpse trampled underfoot. 20 You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people.
May the descendants of evildoers nevermore be named! 21 Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their father. Let them never rise to possess the earth or cover the face of the world with cities.
22 I will rise up against them, says the L ord of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says the L ord. 23And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the L ord of hosts.
An Oracle concerning Assyria24 The L ord of hosts has sworn: As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass: 25 I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him under foot; his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden from their shoulders. 26 This is the plan that is planned concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 27 For the L ord of hosts has planned, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
An Oracle concerning Philistia28 In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came:
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the root of the snake will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. 30 The firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will make your root die of famine, and your remnant I will kill. 31 Wail, O gate; cry, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in its ranks.
32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation? “The L ord has founded Zion, and the needy among his people will find refuge in her.”
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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13. Yet thou saidst in thy heart. These words must be connected with what goes before. To say means here, according to the custom of the Hebrew language, to resolve in one’s own mind. The Prophet ridicules the pride of the Babylonian monarch, who, relying on his greatness, ventured to promise to himself uninterrupted success, as if he had the power of determining the events of his life. In him there is exhibited to us a mirror of the madness of pride with which ungodly men are swelled, and which sometimes they even vomit out. Nor ought we only to behold here the person of a single tyrant, but the blasphemous rage of all the ungodly, who form their resolutions as if they could dispose of everything according to their pleasure; as their plans are also beautifully described by James, We shall go into that city, we shall transact business, we shall make gain, though at the same time they know not what to-morrow shall bring. (James 4:13.) They do not consider that they are in the hands of God, but believe that they will do everything by their own ability. I will ascend into heaven. In these words, and those which immediately follow, the boasting is so absurd that it is impossible to believe that they proceeded from the lips of a mortal man; but as the Prophet did not intend to quote the very words which Nebuchadnezzar employed, let us be satisfied with examining the subject itself. Undoubtedly, all who claim for themselves more than human nature will allow, may be said to “attack heaven itself after the manner of the giants,” as the proverb runs. 222222 {Bogus footnote} Hence it follows that whatever they undertake will be destructive to them; more especially every one who goes beyond the limits of his calling provokes the wrath of God against himself by his rashness. Let every one therefore be satisfied with his lot, and learn not to aim at anything higher, but, on the contrary, to remain in his own rank in which God has placed him. If God stretch out his hand, and lift us up higher, we ought to go forward; but no one ought to take it on himself, or to strive for it from his own choice. And even those who are raised to a higher rank of honor ought to conduct themselves humbly and submissively, not with any pretended modesty, but with minds so thoroughly depressed that nothing can lift them up. I will sit on the mountain of the testimony, 223223 {Bogus footnote} on the sides of the north. This plainly shows the reason why the Prophet especially accuses the Babylonian tyrant of so great madness, and what the Prophet means by such figures. He desired to sit on the mountain of the testimony. By this effrontery he attempted to make himself equal to God. Though he reasoned, after the manner of men, that he could obtain a victory over the Jews, yet, reckoning as nothing the assistance of God, by whom he had often heard that they were protected, it was as if he had endeavored to destroy the very heavens. For Mount Zion he uses the expression the sides of the north, according to the description, Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
224224
{Bogus footnote}
He had formerly called it the mountain of the testimony. This word is derived from יעד, (yagnad;), which signifies to unite, to assemble, and to be agreed. On this account מועד (mogned) signifies both an assembly and an appointed day; and, in a word, it may relate to time, place, and persons. But here I prefer to view it as a Covenant; for the Lord, speaking by Moses, calls the Tabernacle מועד, (mogned,) and says, I will meet with you there. (Exodus 25:21, 22, 29:42.) Let us not think, therefore, that it means an assembly of men, as when irreligious persons assemble to their fairs or festivals, but that the Lord intended to give a token of his presence, and there to ratify his covenant. This ought to be carefully observed; for the blasphemy of the wicked king is proved by this, that he attacked heaven itself rather than an earthly place. |