DOWNFALL OF THE KING OF BABYLON

3 When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,q torment, and the hard laborr you were forced to do, 4 you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylons and say:

How the oppressor has quieted down,

and how the ragingB has become quiet!

5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,

the scepter of the rulers.

6 It struck the peoples in anger

with unceasing blows.

It subdued the nations in rage

with relentless persecution.

7 The whole earth is calm and at rest;

people shout with a ringing cry.

8 Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon

rejoice over you:t

“Since you have been laid low,

no lumberjack has come against us.”

9 Sheol below is eager to greet your coming,

stirring up the spirits of the departed for you—

all the rulersC of the earth—

making all the kings of the nations

rise from their thrones.

10 They all respond to you, saying,

“You too have become as weak as we are;

you have become like us!