The king was cruel when he ruled us,
    but now his rule is finished.
⁵ The Lord breaks the scepter of evil rulers;
    he takes away their power.
⁶ In anger, the king of Babylon beat the people.
    He never stopped beating them.
He was an evil ruler who ruled in anger.
    He never stopped hurting people.
⁷ But now, the whole country rests and is quiet.
    Now the people begin to celebrate.
⁸ You were an evil king,
    and now you are finished.
Even the pine trees are happy.
    The cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king chopped us down,
    but now the king has fallen,
    and he will never stand again.”
⁹ The place of death is excited
    that you are coming.
Sheol is waking the spirits
    of all the leaders of the earth for you.
Sheol is making the kings stand up
    from their thrones to meet you.
¹⁰ They will make fun of you, saying,
    “Now you are as dead as we are.
    Now you are just like us.”
¹¹ Your pride has been sent down to Sheol.
    The music from your harps announces the coming of your proud spirit.
Maggots will be the bed you lie on,
    and other worms will cover your body like a blanket.
¹² You were like the morning star,
    but you have fallen from the sky.
In the past, all the nations on earth bowed down before you,
    but now you have been cut down.
¹³ You always told yourself,
    “I will go to the skies above.
I will put my throne above God’s stars.
    I will sit on Zaphon,^[b] the holy mountain where the gods meet.
¹⁴ I will go up to the altar above the tops of the clouds.
    I will be like God Most High.”

¹⁵ But that did not happen.
    You were brought down to the deep pit—Sheol, the place of death.
¹⁶ People will come to look at your dead body.
    They will think about you and say,
“Is this the same man
    who caused great fear in all the kingdoms on earth,
¹⁷ who destroyed cities
    and turned the land into a desert,
who captured people in war
    and would not let them go home?”
¹⁸ The kings of other nations lie buried with honor,
    each king with his own grave.
¹⁹ But you were thrown out of your grave
    like a branch cut from a tree and thrown away.
You are like a dead man who fell in battle,
    trampled under the feet of other soldiers.
Now you look like any other dead man
    wrapped in burial clothes.
²⁰ Other kings have their own graves,
    but you will not join them,
because you ruined your own country
    and killed your own people.
So your wicked descendants will be stopped.

²¹ Prepare to kill his children,
    because their father is guilty.
His children will never take control of the land.
    They will never fill the world with their cities.

³¹ People near the city gates, cry!
    People in the city, cry out!
Everyone in Philistia,
    your courage will melt like hot wax.

Look to the north!
    There is a cloud of dust.
An army is coming,
    and everyone in that army is strong.^[f]
32 But what will the messengers from that nation report about us?
    They will say, “The Lord made Zion strong,
    and his poor people went there for safety.”