‘Your pride and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you And worms are your covering.’
Parallel translations
- WEB Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.
- NKJV Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.’
- NLT Your might and power were buried with you. The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet, and worms your blanket.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king's pomp and music are brought down to the grave, where maggots and worms now cover him. His splendor ends in corruption and decay.
Overview
The luxury and royal pageantry that surrounded the tyrant give way to the squalor of the grave. The contrast between his former magnificence and his bed of worms drives home the vanity of pride. Such judgment on human glory points to the futility of any kingdom built apart from God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Dan 5:25–30This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
- Mark 9:43–48If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire,
- Job 24:19–20Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.
- Dan 5:1–4Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
- Rev 18:11–19The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more;
- Isa 21:4–5My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.
- Isa 22:2You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
- Job 17:13–14If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness,
- Job 21:11–15They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
- Isa 66:24“They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
- Amos 6:3–7Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
- Ezek 32:19–20Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.
- Ezek 26:13I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 14:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.