14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, 1
including the offspring she produces,” 2
says the Lord.
14:23 “I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals 3
and covered with pools of stagnant water.
I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” 4
says the Lord who commands armies.
14:24 5 The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:
“Be sure of this:
Just as I have intended, so it will be;
just as I have planned, it will happen.
1 tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).
2 tn Heb “descendant and child.”
3 tn Heb “I will make her into a possession of wild animals.” It is uncertain what type of animal קִפֹּד (qippod) refers to. Some suggest a rodent (cf. NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”), others an owl (cf, NAB, NIV, TEV).
4 tn Heb “I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”
5 sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.