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Isaiah 14:9-20

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A Taunt for Babylon’s King

⁹“In the place of the dead there is excitement over your arrival. The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead stand up to see you.

¹⁰With one voice they all cry out, ‘Now you are as weak as we are!

¹¹Your might and power were buried with you. The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet, and worms your blanket.’

¹²“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.

¹³For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.

¹⁴I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’

¹⁵Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.

¹⁶Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?

¹⁷Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

¹⁸“The kings of the nations lie in stately glory, each in his own tomb,

¹⁹but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit.

²⁰You will not be given a proper burial, for you have destroyed your nation and slaughtered your people. The descendants of such an evil person will never again receive honor.

Isaiah 14:9-20 (NLT)