Isaiah 14:22-24

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.

[14:22]  ¹ tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).

[14:22]  ² tn Heb “descendant and child.”

[14:23]  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).

[14:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”

[14:24]  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.