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!
Parallel translations
- WEB How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!
- BSB How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
- NKJV “Howyou are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
- NASB “How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who defeated the nations!
- NLT “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.
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
Isaiah laments how the brilliant 'morning star' has fallen from heaven, cut down to the ground after laying nations low. The verse marks the dramatic collapse of the proud oppressor.
Overview
The title 'morning star, son of the dawn' (rendered 'Lucifer' in older translations) depicts the king of Babylon at the height of his radiance now humiliated. Christians have long seen here an echo of the deeper pride and fall of Satan (cf. Luke 10:18), though the primary reference is the Babylonian ruler. Either way, the passage warns that exalted pride ends in ruin under God's hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ezek 28:13–17Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
- Luke 10:18And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
- Rev 12:7–10And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
- Rev 8:10And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
- Rev 22:16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
- Isa 34:4And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
- 2 Pet 1:19We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
- Rev 2:28And I will give him the morning star.
- Isa 14:4–6That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
- 2 Pet 2:4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
- Rev 9:1And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
- Jer 51:20–24Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
- Jer 50:23How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
- Isa 13:10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
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 14:12 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.