“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],
And how the fury has ceased!
⁵ 
“The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers
⁶ 
Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,
Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.
⁷ 
“The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They break into shouts of joy.
⁸ 
“Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’
⁹ 
“^[a]Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];
It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].
¹⁰ 
“All of them will respond [tauntingly] and say to you,
‘You have become as weak as we are.
You have become like us.
¹¹ 
‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’
¹² 
“How you have fallen from heaven,
O ^[b]star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!
¹³ 
“But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the remote parts of the north.
¹⁴ 
‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
¹⁵ 
“But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).
¹⁶ 
“Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will consider you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ 
Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’
¹⁸ 
“All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,
Each one in his own sepulcher.
¹⁹ 
“But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],
Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].
²⁰ 
“You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land,
You have slain your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be named!
²¹ 
“Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

²⁹ 
“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,
Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],
And its offspring will be a flying serpent.^(C)
30 
“The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],
And the needy will lie down in safety;
But I will kill your root with famine,
And your survivors will be put to death.
³¹ 
“Howl, O gate; cry, O city!
Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;
For smoke comes out of the north,
And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions].
³² 
“Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it.”