Passage

Isaiah 14.9-15

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8. Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us."

"9. Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10. All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11. Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee. 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! 13. And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit."

"16. They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17. that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home?" (Isaiah 14:7-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out song. 8. Yes, the cypress trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us.”"

"9. Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the departed spirits for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10. They all will answer and ask you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?” 11. Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you. 12. How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! 13. You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north! 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!” 15. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit."

"16. Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms; 17. who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn’t release his prisoners to their home?”" (Isaiah 14:7-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"7. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us."

"9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. ^{Hell: or, The grave} ^{chief: Heb. leaders, or, great goats} 10. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ^{O Lucifer: or, O day star} 13. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

"16. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17. That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? ^{opened: or, did not let his prisoners loose homeward?}" (Isaiah 14:7-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. At rest, quiet hath been all the earth, They have broken forth [into] singing. 8. Even firs have rejoiced over thee, Cedars of Lebanon, [saying]: Since thou hast lain down, The hewer cometh not up against us."

"9. Sheol beneath hath been troubled at thee, To meet thy coming in, It is waking up for thee Rephaim, All chiefs ones of earth, It hath raised up from their thrones All kings of nations. 10. All of them answer and say unto thee, Even thou hast become weak like us! Unto us thou hast become like! 11. Brought down to Sheol hath been thine excellency, The noise of thy psaltery, Under thee spread out hath been the worm, Yea, covering thee is the worm. 12. How hast thou fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! Thou hast been cut down to earth, O weakener of nations. 13. And thou saidst in thy heart: the heavens I go up, Above stars of God I raise my throne, And I sit in the mount of meeting in the sides of the north. 14. I go up above the heights of a thick cloud, I am like to the Most High. 15. Only, unto Sheol thou art brought down, Unto the sides of the pit."

"16. Thy beholders look to thee, to thee they attend, Is this the man causing the earth to tremble, Shaking kingdoms? 17. He hath made the world as a wilderness, And his cities he hath broken down, Of his bound ones he opened not the house." (Isaiah 14:7-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.