³The Lord will take away the Israelites’ hard work and will comfort them. They will no longer have to work hard as slaves. ⁴On that day Israel will sing this song about the king of Babylon:

The cruel king who ruled us is finished;

his angry rule is finished!

⁵The Lord has broken the scepter of evil rulers

and taken away their power.

⁶The king of Babylon struck people in anger

again and again.

He ruled nations in anger

and continued to hurt them.

⁷But now, the whole world rests and is quiet.

Now the people begin to sing.

⁸Even the pine trees are happy,

and the cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.

They say, “The king has fallen,

so no one will ever cut us down again.”

⁹The place of the dead is excited

to meet you when you come.

It wakes the spirits of the dead,

the leaders of the world.

It makes kings of all nations

stand up from their thrones to greet you.

¹⁰All these leaders will make fun of you

and will say,

“Now you are weak, as we are.

Now you are just like us.”

¹¹Your pride has been sent down to the place of the dead.

The music from your harps goes with it.

Flies are spread out like your bed beneath you,

and worms cover your body like a blanket.

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