⁶ “But soon their captives will taunt them.
    They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
    Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
    but how much longer can this go on?’

⁴ In that day your enemies will make fun of you
    by singing this song of despair about you:
    “We are finished,
        completely ruined!
    God has confiscated our land,
        taking it from us.
    He has given our fields
        to those who betrayed us.^[a]”

“The mighty man has been destroyed.
    Yes, your insolence^[a] is ended.
⁵ For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
    and broken your evil rule.
⁶ You struck the people with endless blows of rage
    and held the nations in your angry grip
    with unrelenting tyranny.
⁷ But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
    Now it can sing again!
⁸ Even the trees of the forest—
    the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
    sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
    no one will come now to cut us down!’

⁹ “In the place of the dead^[b] there is excitement
    over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
    stand up to see you.
¹⁰ With one voice they all cry out,
    ‘Now you are as weak as we are!
¹¹ Your might and power were buried with you.^[c]
    The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
    and worms your blanket.’

¹² “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.
¹³ For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.^[d]
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.’
¹⁵ Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
    down to its lowest depths.
¹⁶ Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
    and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
¹⁷ Is this the one who destroyed the world
    and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities
    and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

¹⁸ “The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,
    each in his own tomb,
¹⁹ but you will be thrown out of your grave
    like a worthless branch.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
    you will be dumped into a mass grave
    with those killed in battle.
You will descend to the pit.

¹⁵ They will vomit the wealth they swallowed.
    God won’t let them keep it down.
¹⁶ They will suck the poison of cobras.
    The viper will kill them.
¹⁷ They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil
    or rivers of milk and honey.
¹⁸ They will give back everything they worked for.
    Their wealth will bring them no joy.
¹⁹ For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute.
    They foreclosed on their homes.
²⁰ They were always greedy and never satisfied.
    Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.
²¹ Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves.
    Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.

²² “In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble
    and be overcome by misery.
²³ May God give them a bellyful of trouble.
    May God rain down his anger upon them.
²⁴ When they try to escape an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.
²⁵ The arrow is pulled from their back,
    and the arrowhead glistens with blood.^[a]
The terrors of death are upon them.
²⁶     Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness.
A wildfire will devour their goods,
    consuming all they have left.
²⁷ The heavens will reveal their guilt,
    and the earth will testify against them.
²⁸ A flood will sweep away their house.
    God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.
²⁹ This is the reward that God gives the wicked.
    It is the inheritance decreed by God.”

“Balak summoned me to come from Aram;
    the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills.
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me!
    Come and announce Israel’s doom.’