The Lord’s People Will Come Home
The Lord will have mercy on Israel and will let them be his chosen people once again. He will bring them back to their own land, and foreigners will join them as part of Israel. 2 Other nations will lead them home, and Israel will make slaves of them in the land that belongs to the Lord. Israel will rule over those who once governed and mistreated them.
Death to the King of Babylonia!
3 The Lord will set you free from your sorrow,
suffering, and slavery. 4 Then you will make fun of the King of
Babylonia by singing this song:
That cruel monster is done for!
He won’t attack us again.
5 The Lord has crushed the power
of those evil kings,
6 who were furious
and never stopped abusing
the people of other nations.
7 Now all the world is at peace;
its people are celebrating
with joyful songs.
8 King of Babylonia,
even the cypress trees
and the cedars of Lebanon
celebrate and say,
“Since you were put down,
no one comes along
to chop us down.”
9 The world of the dead
eagerly waits for you.
With great excitement,
the spirits of ancient rulers
hear about your coming.
10 Each one of them will say,
“Now you are just as weak
as any of us!
11 Your pride and your music
have ended here
in the world
of the dead.
Worms are your blanket,
maggots
are your bed.”
12 You, the bright morning star,
have fallen
from the sky!
You brought down other nations;
now you
are brought down.
13 You said to yourself,
“I’ll
climb to heaven
and place my throne
above the
highest stars.
I’ll sit there with the
gods
far away
in the north.
14 I’ll be above the clouds,
just like
God Most High.”
15 But now you are deep
in the world
of the dead.
16 Those who see you will stare
and wonder,
“Is this the man
who made the world tremble
and shook
up kingdoms?
17 Did he capture every city
and make
earth a desert?
Is he the one who refused
to let prisoners
go home?”
18 When kings die, they are buried
in glorious
tombs.
19 But you will be left unburied,
just another dead body
lying underfoot
like a broken
branch.
You will be one of many
killed in battle and gone
down
to the deep
rocky pit.
20 You won’t be buried with kings;
you ruined your country
and murdered
your people.
You evil monster!
We hope that your family
will be
forgotten forever.
21 We will slaughter your sons
to make them pay for the crimes
of their
ancestors.
They won’t take over
the world
or build cities
anywhere
on this earth.
22 The Lord All-Powerful has promised to attack
Babylonia and destroy everyone there, so that none of them will
ever be remembered again. 23 The Lord will sweep out the people,
and the land will become a swamp for wild animals.
Assyria Will Be Punished
24 The Lord All-Powerful
has made
this promise:
Everything I have planned
will happen
just as I said.
25 I will wipe out every Assyrian
in my country,
and I will crush those
on my mountains.
I will free my people
from slavery
to the Assyrians.
26 I have planned this
for the
whole world,
and my mighty arm
controls
every nation.
27 I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have made these plans.
No one can
stop me now!
The Philistines Will Be Punished
28 This message came from the Lord
in the year
King Ahaz died:
29 Philistines, don’t be happy
just because
the rod
that punished you
is broken.
That rod will become
a poisonous snake, and then
a flying
fiery dragon.
30 The poor and needy will find
pastures for their sheep
and will
live in safety.
But I will starve some of
you,
and others
will be killed.
31 Cry and weep in the gates
of your towns,
you Philistines!
Smoke blows in from the north,
and every
soldier is ready.
32 If a messenger comes
from a distant nation,
you must
say:
“The Lord built Zion.
Even the poorest of his people
will find
safety there.”