“How the oppressor has ceased,
The golden^[a] city ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken 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 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^[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 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 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
²¹ Prepare slaughter for his children
Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

²⁹ “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
³⁰ The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
³¹ Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his ^[j]appointed times.”

³² What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.