⁴ Fill in the valleys,
    and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
    and smooth out the rough places.

⁵ The valleys will be filled,
    and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
    and the rough places made smooth.

“Take off your jeweled crown,
    for the old order changes.
Now the lowly will be exalted,
    and the mighty will be brought down.

“I will go before you, Cyrus,
    and level the mountains.^[a]
I will smash down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.

¹⁵ I will level the mountains and hills
    and blight all their greenery.
I will turn the rivers into dry land
    and will dry up all the pools.
¹⁶ I will lead blind Israel down a new path,
    guiding them along an unfamiliar way.
I will brighten the darkness before them
    and smooth out the road ahead of them.
Yes, I will indeed do these things;
    I will not forsake them.

⁷ He lifts the poor from the dust
    and the needy from the garbage dump.
⁸ He sets them among princes,
    even the princes of his own people!

¹² For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    has a day of reckoning.
He will punish the proud and mighty
    and bring down everything that is exalted.
¹³ He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon
    and all the mighty oaks of Bashan.
¹⁴ He will level all the high mountains
    and all the lofty hills.
¹⁵ He will break down every high tower
    and every fortified wall.

¹¹ Give vent to your anger.
    Let it overflow against the proud.
¹² Humiliate the proud with a glance;
    walk on the wicked where they stand.
¹³ Bury them in the dust.
    Imprison them in the world of the dead.