Old/New Testament

Behold how the oppressor has come to an end!
    Behold how his arrogance has ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,
    the scepter of rulers,
⁶ that struck down the peoples in wrath,
    inflicting continuous blows,
and that furiously crushed the nations
    with relentless persecution.
⁷ The entire world is at rest and peaceful;
    shouts of joy resound.
⁸ The cypresses exult over you,
    as do the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
“Now that you have been laid low,
    no one approaches to cut us down.”^[b]
9 The netherworld below is all astir
    to greet you upon your arrival.
To welcome you it aroused the departed spirits,
    all the rulers of the earth.
It raised from their thrones
    all those who were kings of the nations.
¹⁰ All of them will speak out
    and greet you with these words,
“You too have become as weak as we are.
    You have become like us.”
¹¹ Your pomp has descended to the netherworld
    along with the music of your harps.
Maggots compose the mattress upon which you lie,
    and worms serve as your blanket.
¹² To what depths have you fallen from the heavens,
    O morning star, son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
¹³ You used to say in your heart,
    “I will scale the heavens.
I will raise my throne
    above the stars of God.
I will sit on the Mountain of Assembly,
    in the far recesses of the north.
¹⁴ I will ascend above the highest clouds;
    I will be like the Most High.”
¹⁵ Instead you have been hurled down to the netherworld,
    to the depths of the abyss.
¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you,
    and as they do so they will wonder,
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble
    and overthrew kingdoms,
¹⁷ who turned the world into a desert,
    laid its cities in ruins,
    and refused to let his prisoners return home?”
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in honor,
    each one in his own tomb.
¹⁹ But you have been cast out without burial,
    like some loathsome piece of flesh;
you are covered with the dead,
    with those pierced by the sword
    who descend to the rocks of the abyss.
²⁰ You will never be buried with those kings
    because you have destroyed your land
    and brought death to your people.
The offspring of the wicked
    will never again be mentioned.
²¹ Make ready to slaughter his sons
    because of the guilt of their father.
Let them never again rise to possess the earth
    and cover the face of the earth with their cities.

²⁴ The Lord of hosts has sworn:
    As I have resolved, so will it be;
    as I have planned, so will it come to pass.
²⁵ I will break the Assyrian in my land
    and trample him underfoot on my mountains;
his yoke will be lifted from my people,
    and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
²⁶ This is the plan that the Lord has prepared
    for the entire world,
and this is the hand that he has outstretched
    over all the nations.
²⁷ For the Lord of hosts has devised this plan;
    who can thwart it?
His hand is outstretched;
    who can turn it back?

²⁹ Let not a single one of you rejoice, O Philistia,
    that the rod that struck you is broken.
For from the root of a snake will be born a viper,
    and its fruit will be a flying serpent.
³⁰ The poor of my people will eat in my pasture,
    and the destitute will lie down in safety.
But I will make your offspring die of hunger,
    and I will then slay the remnant.
³¹ Howl, O gate! Cry out, O city!
    Let all Philistia be stricken with fear!
For a mighty foe is coming from the north,
    without a single straggler in its ranks.
³² What reply will then be given
    to the envoys of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,
    and the afflicted of his people
    will find refuge in her.”

Having been laid waste in a single night,
    Ar of Moab is destroyed.
Having been laid waste in a single night,
    Kir of Moab is destroyed.
² The daughter of Dibon goes up
    to the high places to weep.
Moab wails unceasingly
    over Nebo and Medeba.
Every head has been shaved,
    every beard has been cut off.
³ In the streets they wear sackcloth;
    on the roofs and in the public squares
    everyone wails and collapses in tears.
⁴ Hesbon and Elealeh cry out in distress;
    their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
As a result, the bravest of Moab’s warriors cry out
    and their hearts grow faint.
⁵ My heart cries out for Moab;
    her fugitives have arrived close to Zoar,
    at Eglath-shelishiyah.
They climb the slope of Luhith,
    weeping as they make their ascent;
on the road to Horonaim
    they emit heart-rending cries.
⁶ The waters of Nimrim
    have become a desolate waste.
The grass is parched,
    the plants have withered away,
    and nothing green can be seen.
⁷ Therefore, the people carry away
    across the Ravine of the Willows
whatever possessions they can manage
    and the savings they have accumulated.
⁸ Their cry of distress has echoed
    around the land of Moab.
Their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim;
    it can be heard even to the land of Beer-elim.
⁹ The waters of Dimon are filled with blood,
    but I have far worse in store for Dimon:
a lion for those who are fleeing from Moab,
    as well as for those who are left on its soil.

^1 [f]Send forth lambs to the ruler of the land,
    from Sela across the desert
    to the mount of daughter Zion.
² Like fluttering birds,
    like scattered nestlings,
are the women of Moab
    at the fords of the Arnon.
³ Offer your counsel,
    grant us your justice.
At high noon
    let your shadow be like night.
Hide those who are outcasts
    and do not betray the fugitives.
⁴ Allow the outcasts of Moab
    to settle among you,
    and be their refuge from the destroyer.
When the oppression has ceased
    and the devastation is at an end,
and the marauders who have trampled the land
    have finally departed,
⁵ a throne established in faithful love
    will be established in the tent of David,
and on it will sit in fidelity
    a judge who offers fair judgment
    and is prompt to ensure justice.
⁶ We have heard about the pride of Moab,
    about how truly intense that pride is,
with its arrogance, its pride, and its insolence,
    as well as its boasts which have little basis.
⁷ Therefore, let Moab wail,
    every one of its inhabitants.
In their grief they will long
    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
⁸ The vineyards of Heshbon have withered,
    the vines of Sibmah.
The lords of the nations
    have destroyed the choicest vines
that once reached as far as Jazer
    and spread out toward the desert,
and whose shoots with their spreading branches
    spread across the sea.
⁹ Therefore, I weep with Jazer
    for the vines of Sibmah.
I drench you with tears,
    Heshbon and Elealeh,
for the cries of battle have fallen
    over your harvest and vintage.
¹⁰ Joy and gladness
    have been taken away from the fields.
In the vineyards no songs are sung,
    no joyful shouts are raised.
No one treads out wine in the wine-presses
    no cheers of happiness are heard.
¹¹ That is the reason why
    my heart throbs like a harp for Moab
    and my soul for Kir-hareseth.
¹² When the Moabites approach
    and exhaust themselves on the high places,
they will flock to their sanctuaries to pray,
    but it will avail them nothing.

“Awake, O sleeper!
    Rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”