Isaiah 14:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

NIV: 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.

NASB: When the Lord has compassion on Jacob and again chooses Israel, and settles them on their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

CSB: For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again. He will settle them on their own land. The resident alien will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.

NLT: But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.

KJV: For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

NKJV: For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.

Isaiah's prophecy against Babylon is interrupted for two verses, Isaiah 14:1–2, to describe the Lord's restoration of His people. The prophet is referring to the people of Israel by the name of their ancestor, Jacob. When this prediction was written, the southern two tribes of Israel were under dire threat from the Assyrians. However, Isaiah is writing about a time in the future during which Judah will be in exile as captives in Babylon. The future destruction of Babylon was described in the previous chapter (Isaiah 13). That will provide for the full release of Judah from captivity, as well as the return to the land of Israel. This event is described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

After the defeat of Babylon, the Lord will again have compassion for His people. He will "choose" them again. This doesn't mean that the Lord ever abandoned Israel completely or broke any of His promises to them. Instead, the Lord will renew His choice of Israel as His own people. He will demonstrate His faithfulness to those promises made to Israel by bringing them back to the Promised Land once more.

Isaiah adds that sojourners will join Israel and connect themselves to Jacob's house. These are people from other nations who will return to live and work among the Israelites in the reformed land of Israel.

Chapter 14:1–2 describes the fate of the Israelite people after the destruction of their captors, the nation of Babylon. The Lord will have compassion on Israel them and will choose them as His people once more. God will return the people of Israel to the Promised Land. Some Gentiles from Babylon will come with them and will become slaves to the Israelites. This will reverse the status of God's people from captives to captors over those who had previously oppressed them.

After the oracle against Babylon in the previous chapter, Isaiah briefly describes what will follow for Judah. In compassion, the Lord will choose His people once more. He will return them to their homeland. They will sing a mocking taunt-song against the fallen king of Babylon. Isaiah pronounces oracles from the Lord against Assyria and Philistia. The Lord will break the Assyrians in His land. With heavy symbolism, Isaiah seems to prophecy that the Assyrians will defeat the Philistines with a siege four years before it happens. God's people will find refuge in Zion.

Chapter 14 follows the oracle about the destruction of Babylon with a brief encouragement to the people of Judah. The Lord will restore them to the land. They will taunt the fallen Babylonian king, using phrases many also associate with the fall of Satan. Isaiah pronounces oracles from the Lord against Assyria and Philistia. He declares that He will break the Assyrians in His land, freeing His people from their oppression. Philistia will fall at the Lord's hand to a famine inflicted on them by a power from the north. Next, Isaiah's prophecy will turn to Moab.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).