24 [a] The Lord of Heaven’s 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.

Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn![a] You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror[b] of the nations![c] 13 You said to yourself,[d] ‘I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El[e] I will set up my throne.

14 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob;[a] he will again choose Israel as his special people[b] and restore[c] them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family[d] of Jacob. 2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Israel will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land.[e] They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them. 3 When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety[f] and from the hard labor that you were made to perform, 4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words:[g]

13 [a] This is an oracle[b] about Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: 2 [c] On a bare hill raise a signal flag; shout to them, wave your hand, so they might enter the gates of the princes! 3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers;[d] I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger[e]— my boasting, arrogant ones.[f]

10 At that time[a] a root from Jesse[b] will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance,[c] and his residence will be majestic. 11 At that time[d] the Lord[e] will again lift his hand[f] to reclaim[g] the remnant of his people[h] from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros,[i] Cush,[j] Elam, Shinar,[k] Hamath, and the seacoasts.[l]

20 At that time[a] those left in Israel, those who remain of the family[b] of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them.[c] Instead they will truly[d] rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.[e] 21 A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.[f] 22 For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as[g] the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back.[h] Destruction has been decreed;[i] just punishment[j] is about to engulf you.[k] 23 The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land.[l]

5 “Beware, Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger,[a] a cudgel with which I angrily punish.[b] 6 I sent him[c] against a godless[d] nation, I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry,[e] to take plunder and to carry away loot, to trample them down[f] like dirt in the streets.

8 [a] The Lord[b] decreed judgment[c] on Jacob, and it fell on Israel.[d] 9 All the people were aware[e] of it, the people of Ephraim and those living in Samaria.[f] Yet with pride and an arrogant attitude, they said,[g] 10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with chiseled stone; the sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.”[h]