Isaiah 14:3–11

DOWNFALL OF THE KING OF BABYLON

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

How the oppressor has quieted down,

and how the raging^B has become quiet!

⁵The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,

the scepter of the rulers.

⁶It struck the peoples in anger

with unceasing blows.

It subdued the nations in rage

with relentless persecution.

⁷The whole earth is calm and at rest;

people shout with a ringing cry.

⁸Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon

rejoice over you:^t

“Since you have been laid low,

no lumberjack has come against us.”

⁹Sheol below is eager to greet your coming,

stirring up the spirits of the departed for you—

all the rulers^A of the earth—

making all the kings of the nations

rise from their thrones.

¹⁰They all respond to you, saying,

“You too have become as weak as we are;

you have become like us!

¹¹Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,

along with the music of your harps.

Maggots are spread out under you,

and worms cover you.”