⁶ “Will not all these ^(A)take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
‘Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with ^[a]many pledges’?

“How the oppressor has ceased,
The ^(B)golden^[a] city ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken ^(C)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
⁶ He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
^8 (D)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you ^[b]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’

⁹ “Hell^(E)[c] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
¹⁰ They all shall ^(F)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
¹¹ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’

¹⁶ “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who ^[f]did not open the house of his prisoners?’

¹⁸ “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
¹⁹ But you are cast out of your grave
Like an ^[g]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
^[h]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.

²⁰ “Because^(B) he knows no quietness in his ^[b]heart,
He will not save anything he desires.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
²² In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of ^[c]misery will come against him.
²³ When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
^24 (C)He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
²⁵ It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, ^(D)the glittering point comes out of his ^[d]gall.
^(E)Terrors come upon him;
²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
^(F)An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His ^(G)wrath.
^29 (H)This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”

“Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram,
From the mountains of the east.
^(B)‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
And come, ^(C)denounce Israel!’