Isaiah 14:3-7

14:3 When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform, 14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ² 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ³  has ceased!

14:5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,

the scepter of rulers.

14:6 It ⁴  furiously struck down nations

with unceasing blows. ⁵ 

It angrily ruled over nations,

oppressing them without restraint. ⁶ 

14:7 The whole earth rests and is quiet;

they break into song.

Isaiah 14:2

14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ⁷  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Isaiah 1:6-7

1:6 From the soles of your feet to your head,

there is no spot that is unharmed. ⁸ 

There are only bruises, cuts,

and open wounds.

They have not been cleansed ⁹  or bandaged,

nor have they been treated ¹⁰  with olive oil. ¹¹ 

1:7 Your land is devastated,

your cities burned with fire.

Right before your eyes your crops

are being destroyed by foreign invaders. ¹² 

They leave behind devastation and destruction. ¹³ 

Revelation 19:1-3

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ¹⁴ 

For he has judged ¹⁵  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ¹⁶  poured out by her own hands!” ¹⁷ 

19:3 Then ¹⁸  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ¹⁹ 

[14:3]  ¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[14:4]  ² tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ³ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[14:6]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “he” (cf. KJV; NCV “the king of Babylon”). The present translation understands the referent of the pronoun (“it”) to be the “club/scepter” of the preceding line.

[14:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “it was striking down nations in fury [with] a blow without ceasing.” The participle (“striking down”) suggests repeated or continuous action in past time.

[14:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “it was ruling in anger nations [with] oppression without restraint.” The participle (“ruling”) suggests repeated or continuous action in past time.

[14:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “there is not in it health”; NAB “there is no sound spot.”

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “pressed out.”

[1:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “softened” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “soothed.”

[1:6]  ¹¹ sn This verse describes wounds like those one would receive in battle. These wounds are comprehensive and without remedy.

[1:7]  ¹² tn Heb “As for your land, before you foreigners are devouring it.”

[1:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [there is] devastation like an overthrow by foreigners.” The comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like, as”) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the land has all the earmarks of a destructive foreign invasion because that is what has indeed happened. One could paraphrase, “it is desolate as it can only be when foreigners destroy.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x. Many also prefer to emend “foreigners” here to “Sodom,” though there is no external attestation for such a reading in the mss or ancient versions. Such an emendation finds support from the following context (vv. 9-10) and usage of the preceding noun מַהְפֵּכָה (mahpekhah, “overthrow”). In its five other uses, this noun is associated with the destruction of Sodom. If one accepts the emendation, then one might translate, “the devastation resembles the destruction of Sodom.”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”