Background
Chapter 14 continues the oracle against Babylon from chapter 13 and adds two short oracles: one against Assyria (verses 24–27) and one against Philistia (verses 28–32).
The heart of the chapter is a taunt song (verses 4–23) that liberated Israel will sing over the dead king of Babylon. It is one of the most powerful poems in the Bible, and it contains the famous lines about Lucifer, “son of the morning,” who wanted to ascend above the stars of God and was cast down to the pit. Latter-day Saints, together with Christians through the centuries, have read those lines as describing not only a proud human king but Satan himself. Modern revelation confirms that reading (D&C 76:25–27; Moses 4:1–4).
Nephi quoted the chapter as 2 Ne. 24. It was the last chapter of his long quotation of Isaiah 2–14, and immediately afterward he gave his “keys” for understanding Isaiah (2 Ne. 25:1–8).
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 14 is about the one who tried to climb too high, and it reads like a play in three scenes.
Scene one: the earth breathes again (verses 3–8). The oppressor is dead. The whole earth is at rest and breaks into singing. Even the cedars of Lebanon rejoice: since you fell, no lumberjack has come to cut us down.
Scene two: the welcome in the underworld (verses 9–11). In Sheol, the world of the dead, the ghosts of former kings rise from their thrones to greet the newcomer with mockery: “Art thou also become weak as we?” His music has stopped. His bed is maggots and his blanket is worms.
Scene three: the fall from heaven (verses 12–20). Now the poem soars to its most famous lines. The king is called Helel ben Shachar, “shining one, son of the dawn,” which the Latin Bible translated Lucifer. He had said in his heart five times, “I will”: I will ascend… I will exalt my throne… I will sit… I will ascend… I will be like the most High. And the answer is one line: “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell.”
Those five “I will”s are the anatomy of pride. They are also the exact opposite of the Son’s answer in the premortal council: “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever” (Moses 4:2). Isaiah’s poem mocks a human tyrant, but it exposes the pattern of the first rebel, who wanted God’s throne and ended in the pit. Every proud power in history, from Babylon to our own day, follows his script, and every one of them ends the same way: “Is this the man that made the earth to tremble?”
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
Mercy on Jacob
The Lord will have mercy on Jacob and choose Israel again, and settle them in their own land. Foreigners will join them and attach themselves to Jacob’s family. Nations will bring Israel home, and Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them. The Lord will give you rest from your pain, turmoil, and harsh slavery.
1 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.
2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
The taunt over the king of Babylon
Then you will sing this taunt about the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The Lord has broken the club of the wicked, the scepter of the tyrants who struck nations with endless blows and ruled them in anger. Now the whole earth is at rest and quiet, and people break into song. Even the pine trees and cedars of Lebanon celebrate: ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes to cut us down.’ The realm of the dead below stirs to meet you. It wakes the spirits of the dead, the former leaders of the earth, and makes kings rise from their thrones. They all say to you, ‘You too have become weak like us!’ Your pomp and the sound of your harps have gone down to the grave. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.”
4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
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.
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.
Fallen from heaven
“How you have fallen from heaven, shining star, son of the dawn! You who conquered nations have been cut down to the ground. You said in your heart, ‘I will climb to heaven; I will raise my throne above God’s stars; I will sit on the mountain of the assembly in the far north; I will rise above the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare and wonder: ‘Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, who turned the world into a desert, destroyed its cities, and never let his prisoners go home?’ Other kings lie in state in their own tombs, but you are thrown out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered with the slain, trampled like a corpse. You won’t be buried with them, because you destroyed your own land and killed your own people. The descendants of the wicked will never be remembered. Prepare to slaughter his sons for their fathers’ sins, so they will not rise to take over the earth and fill it with their cities.”
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!
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?
18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
The Lord’s purpose stands
“I will rise against them,” says the Lord of hosts. “I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors, offspring and descendants. I will turn it into a swamp and a home for owls, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction.” The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so it will be; as I have purposed, so it will stand. I will break the Assyrian in My land and trample him on My mountains. His yoke will be lifted from My people and his burden from their shoulders.” This is the plan for the whole earth; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. The Lord of hosts has planned it, and who can stop Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
A warning to Philistia
This oracle came in the year King Ahaz died. Don’t celebrate, Philistia, because the rod that struck you is broken. From that snake’s root will come a viper, and its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent. The poorest will have food, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root with famine and destroy your survivors. Wail, city gate! Cry out, city! Melt away, all Philistia! Smoke is coming from the north, and not one soldier will fall out of rank. What answer shall we give to the messengers of the nations? “The Lord has founded Zion, and in her His afflicted people will find refuge.”
28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 14
Isaiah 14 teaches about Christ by contrast. Lucifer said “I will” five times and wanted to be “like the most High.” The Son said “thy will be done” (Moses 4:2). Though He was in the form of God, He “made himself of no reputation… and became obedient unto death” (Philip. 2:6–8). Lucifer ascended and fell. Christ descended and was exalted.
The tyrant “opened not the house of his prisoners.” Christ came to open every prison (Isa. 61:1; D&C 138:42). And the chapter’s final word, that “the LORD hath founded Zion” and the poor may trust in it, points to the One who is Zion’s sure foundation (Isa. 28:16).
Liken it to yourself
- Pride often speaks in the first person. Listen for “I will” in my own inner voice this week. Where is it pushing out “thy will”?
- What looks as terrifying as the king of Babylon in my life right now? Can I imagine the day when I’ll look at it and ask, “Is this the thing that made the earth tremble?”
- The fallen king “opened not the house of his prisoners.” Is there anyone I am keeping in a prison of resentment or unforgiveness?
- When people ask what I rely on, can I answer like verse 32?
Worth exploring next
- The fall of Lucifer across scripture. Read Isa. 14:12–15, Luke 10:18, Rev. 12:7–9, D&C 29:36–38, D&C 76:25–29, Moses 4:1–4, and Abr. 3:27–28. What does each add?
- A parallel lament. Ezekiel’s dirge over the king of Tyre (Ezek. 28:11–19) also seems to look past a human king to a fallen heavenly being. Compare the two.
- Nephi’s bridge. Read 2 Ne. 25:1–8, which comes right after Nephi quoted this chapter. Why do you think he gave his keys for understanding Isaiah at this point?
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
Nephi’s text of this chapter (2 Ne. 24) reads differently from the King James Version in 18 verses. The BoM markers show the 10 where more than a small word changes.
- 2 Ne. 24 — Nephi quotes the chapter, the end of his long quotation of Isaiah 2–14.
- D&C 76:25–27 — “He was Lucifer, a son of the morning… he is fallen!”
- Moses 4:1–4 — Satan’s rebellion in the premortal council.
Sources & further reading
- “Lucifer”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Babylon or Babel”, Bible Dictionary.
- Chapter 14: A Voice of Warning to the Wicked (Isaiah 13–23), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
- John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.