Lectionary Calendar
Monday, July 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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New Century Version

Isaiah 14:5

The Lord has broken the scepter of evil rulers and taken away their power.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Isaiah;   Nation;   Rulers;   Scepter (Sceptre);   Thompson Chain Reference - Nation, the;   Sceptres;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Babylon;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Rod;   Sceptre;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Babylon;   Funeral;   Nebuchadnezzar;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Kill, Killing;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Sceptre;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Club;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Isaiah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Judgment Damnation;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Babylon ;   Sceptre;   Type;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Medes;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Isa'iah, Book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Scepter;   Staff;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Belshazzar;   Sceptre;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Isaiah;   King;   Ruler;   Sceptre;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Satire;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,the scepter of the rulers.
Hebrew Names Version
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers;
King James Version
The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
English Standard Version
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers,
New American Standard Bible
"The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers,
Amplified Bible
"The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers
World English Bible
Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers;
Geneva Bible (1587)
The Lorde hath broken the rodde of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers:
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked,The scepter of rulers
Berean Standard Bible
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
Contemporary English Version
The Lord has crushed the power of those evil kings,
Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
Darby Translation
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord breaks the scepter of evil rulers; he takes away their power.
George Lamsa Translation
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked and the sceptre of the rulers.
Good News Translation
The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers
Lexham English Bible
Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers,
Literal Translation
Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the staff of rulers,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Doutles the LORDE hath broken the staff of the vngodly, & the cepter of ye lordly.
American Standard Version
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers;
Bible in Basic English
The stick of the evil-doers, the rod of the rulers, is broken by the Lord;
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers,
King James Version (1611)
The Lord hath broken the staffe of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The Lorde hath broken the scepter of the vngodly, and the rod of the lordelye,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The Lord has broken the yoke of sinners, the yoke of princes.
English Revised Version
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord hath al to-broke the staf of wickid men, the yerde of lordis,
Update Bible Version
Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers;
Webster's Bible Translation
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, [and] the scepter of the rulers.
New English Translation
The Lord has broken the club of the wicked, the scepter of rulers.
New King James Version
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of the rulers;
New Living Translation
For the Lord has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule.
New Life Bible
The Lord has broken the walking stick of the sinful, the power of rulers,
New Revised Standard
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Broke hath Yahweh the staff of the lawless, - The sceptre of despots;
Douay-Rheims Bible
The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers,
Revised Standard Version
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers,
Young's Literal Translation
Ceased hath the golden one. Broken hath Jehovah the staff of the wicked, The sceptre of rulers.
THE MESSAGE
Now You Are Nothing But not so with Jacob. God will have compassion on Jacob. Once again he'll choose Israel. He'll establish them in their own country. Outsiders will be attracted and throw their lot in with Jacob. The nations among whom they lived will actually escort them back home, and then Israel will pay them back by making slaves of them, men and women alike, possessing them as slaves in God 's country, capturing those who had captured them, ruling over those who had abused them. When God has given you time to recover from the abuse and trouble and harsh servitude that you had to endure, you can amuse yourselves by taking up this satire, a taunt against the king of Babylon: Can you believe it? The tyrant is gone! The tyranny is over! God has broken the rule of the wicked, the power of the bully-rulers That crushed many people. A relentless rain of cruel outrage Established a violent rule of anger rife with torture and persecution. And now it's over, the whole earth quietly at rest. Burst into song! Make the rafters ring! Ponderosa pine trees are happy, giant Lebanon cedars are relieved, saying, "Since you've been cut down, there's no one around to cut us down." And the underworld dead are all excited, preparing to welcome you when you come. Getting ready to greet you are the ghostly dead, all the famous names of earth. All the buried kings of the nations will stand up on their thrones With well-prepared speeches, royal invitations to death: "Now you are as nothing as we are! Make yourselves at home with us dead folks!" This is where your pomp and fine music led you, Babylon, to your underworld private chambers, A king-size mattress of maggots for repose and a quilt of crawling worms for warmth. What a comedown this, O Babylon! Daystar! Son of Dawn! Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations! You said to yourself, "I'll climb to heaven. I'll set my throne over the stars of God. I'll run the assembly of angels that meets on sacred Mount Zaphon. I'll climb to the top of the clouds. I'll take over as King of the Universe!" But you didn't make it, did you? Instead of climbing up, you came down— Down with the underground dead, down to the abyss of the Pit. People will stare and muse: "Can this be the one Who terrorized earth and its kingdoms, turned earth to a moonscape, Wasted its cities, shut up his prisoners to a living death?" Other kings get a decent burial, honored with eulogies and placed in a tomb. But you're dumped in a ditch unburied, like a stray dog or cat, Covered with rotting bodies, murdered and indigent corpses. Your dead body desecrated, mutilated— no state funeral for you! You've left your land in ruins, left a legacy of massacre. The progeny of your evil life will never be named. Oblivion! Get a place ready to slaughter the sons of the wicked and wipe out their father's line. Unthinkable that they should own a square foot of land or desecrate the face of the world with their cities! "I will confront them"—Decree of God -of-the-Angel-Armies—"and strip Babylon of name and survivors, children and grandchildren." God 's Decree. "I'll make it a worthless swamp and give it as a prize to the hedgehog. And then I'll bulldoze it out of existence." Decree of God -of-the-Angel-Armies. God -of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: "Exactly as I planned, it will happen. Following my blueprints, it will take shape. I will shatter the Assyrian who trespasses my land and stomp him into the dirt on my mountains. I will ban his taking and making of slaves and lift the weight of oppression from all shoulders." This is the plan, planned for the whole earth, And this is the hand that will do it, reaching into every nation. God -of-the-Angel-Armies has planned it. Who could ever cancel such plans? His is the hand that's reached out. Who could brush it aside? In the year King Ahaz died, this Message came: Hold it, Philistines! It's too soon to celebrate the defeat of your cruel oppressor. From the death throes of that snake a worse snake will come, and from that, one even worse. The poor won't have to worry. The needy will escape the terror. But you Philistines will be plunged into famine, and those who don't starve, God will kill. Wail and howl, proud city! Fall prostrate in fear, Philistia! On the northern horizon, smoke from burned cities, the wake of a brutal, disciplined destroyer. What does one say to outsiders who ask questions? Tell them, " God has established Zion. Those in need and in trouble find refuge in her."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers

Contextual Overview

4 On that day Israel will sing this song about the king of Babylon: The cruel king who ruled us is finished; his angry rule is finished! 5 The Lord has broken the scepter of evil rulers and taken away their power. 6 The king of Babylon struck people in anger again and again. He ruled nations in anger and continued to hurt them. 7 But now, the whole world rests and is quiet. Now the people begin to sing. 8 Even the pine trees are happy, and the cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice. They say, "The king has fallen, so no one will ever cut us down again." 9 The place of the dead is excited to meet you when you come. It wakes the spirits of the dead, the leaders of the world. It makes kings of all nations stand up from their thrones to greet you. 10 All these leaders will make fun of you and will say, "Now you are weak, as we are. Now you are just like us." 11 Your pride has been sent down to the place of the dead. The music from your harps goes with it. Flies are spread out like your bed beneath you, and worms cover your body like a blanket. 12 King of Babylon, morning star, you have fallen from heaven, even though you were as bright as the rising sun! In the past all the nations on earth bowed down before you, but now you have been cut down. 13 You told yourself, "I will go up to heaven. I will put my throne above God's stars. I will sit on the mountain of the gods, on the slopes of the sacred mountain.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 14:29, Isaiah 9:4, Isaiah 10:5, Psalms 125:3, Jeremiah 48:15-17

Reciprocal: Job 36:22 - God Isaiah 8:9 - and ye Isaiah 14:16 - Is this Isaiah 14:25 - then Jeremiah 48:17 - How Jeremiah 51:20 - art Zephaniah 2:15 - how is

Cross-References

Genesis 14:10
There were many tar pits in the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies ran away, some of the soldiers fell into the tar pits, but the others ran away to the mountains.
Genesis 14:11
Now Kedorlaomer and his armies took everything the people of Sodom and Gomorrah owned, including their food.
Genesis 14:20
And we praise God Most High, who has helped you to defeat your enemies." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle.
Genesis 14:23
I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours. I will not keep even a thread or a sandal strap so that you cannot say, ‘I made Abram rich.'
Genesis 15:20
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Deuteronomy 1:4
This was after the Lord had defeated Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei.
Deuteronomy 3:11
(Only Og king of Bashan was left of the few Rephaites. His bed was made of iron, and it was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide! It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
Deuteronomy 3:20
until the Lord also gives your Israelite relatives a place to rest. They will receive the land the Lord your God has given them on the other side of the Jordan River. After that, you may each return to the land I have given you."
Deuteronomy 3:22
Don't be afraid of them, because the Lord your God will fight for you."
Joshua 12:4
Og king of Bashan was one of the last of the Rephaites. He ruled the land in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked,.... This is an answer to the above question, how the exactor and his tribute came to cease; this was not by man, but by the Lord himself; for though he made use of Cyrus, the work was his own, he broke the power of the wicked kings of Babylon:

[and] the sceptre of the rulers; that were under the king of Babylon; or of the several kings themselves, Nebuchadnezzar, Evilmerodach, and Belshazzar; so Kimchi interprets it. This may be applied to the kingdom of antichrist, and the antichristian states, which shall be broken to shivers as a potter's vessel by Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, Revelation 2:27. The "staff" and "sceptre" are emblems of power and government; and "breaking" them signifies the utter destruction and cessation of authority and dominion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord hath broken - Yahweh, by the hand of Cyrus.

The staff of the wicked - That is, the scepter of the king of Babylon. The word rendered ‘staff’ (מטה maṭēh) may mean either a bough, stick, staff, rod, or a scepter. The scepter was the symbol of supreme power. It was in the form of a staff, and was made of wood, ivory, or gold. It here means that Yahweh had taken away the power from Babylon, and destroyed his dominion.


 
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