That you will take up this bitter song against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the cruel overseer come to an end! He who was lifted up in pride is cut off;

He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

"The afterlife below is all astir to meet you when you arrive; it rouses up the spirits of the dead to greet you everyone who used to be world leaders. It has raised up from their thrones all who used to be kings of the nations.

“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!

“Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will consider you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,

Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’

“But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],
Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].

As for them who go down to the stones of the Pit, Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; For thy land, thou didst ruin Thy people, didst slay, - Unnamed to times ago-abiding, Be the seed of the wicked!

"I will rise up against them," says the Lord who commands armies. "I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, including the offspring she produces," says the Lord.

"I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom," says the Lord who commands armies.

The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow: "Be sure of this: Just as I have intended, so it will be; just as I have planned, it will happen.

For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

Don’t rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you is broken.
For a viper will come from the root of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.

“Those who are most helpless will eat,
And the needy will lie down in security;
I will destroy your root with famine,
And it will kill off your survivors.

Who shall then maintain the messages of the Gentiles? But the LORD establisheth Zion, and the poor of my people shall put their trust in him.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;
Yet I will bring even more woes on Dimon—
A lion upon those of Moab who escape and upon the remnant of the land.

Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;
do not betray the one who flees.

“Let our outcasts of Moab live among you;
Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer.”
For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,

Then in the tent of David
a throne will be established by faithful love.
A judge who seeks what is right
and is quick to execute justice
will sit on the throne forever.

Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
Mourn, you who are completely devastated,
for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

But now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”

Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and Damascus will lose its kingdom. The survivors in Syria will end up like the splendor of the Israelites," says the Lord who commands armies.

And it shall be as {when a reaper gathers} standing grain and he reaps grain [with] his arm, and it shall be like one who gathers ears of grain in the valley of Rephaim.

For you ignore the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines.

Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!

At evening time, now look, sudden terror!
Before morning the Assyrians are no more.
This is the portion (fate) of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who pillage us.

that sends messengers by sea, who glide over the water's surface in boats made of papyrus. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, to a people that are feared far and wide, to a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide.

All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth,
When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it!
When a trumpet is blown, you will hear it!

At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies, by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned, a people that are feared far and wide, a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. The tribute will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion.

The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.

I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master; a powerful king will rule over them," says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief),
And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.

Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax
And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.

[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed;
And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

But where, oh where, are your wise men? Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,
The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];
Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes
Have led Egypt astray.

At that time the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them.

And the land of Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt; every one to whom mention is made thereof shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, which he purposeth against it.

At that time five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun.

and it shall be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a saviour and defender, who shall deliver them.

Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.

So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, ‘Look what has happened to those in whom we hoped and trusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?’”

Whoso may deceive, said the voice, let him deceive: Who so may destroy, let him destroy. Up Elam, besiege it O Media, for I will still all their groanings.

Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold on me like the pangs of a woman who travails; I was bowed down from hearing; I was troubled from seeing.

O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].

They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.

For the Lord has said this to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end;

And there will be few archers, those who are descendants of Kedar, who survive, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."

You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.

All your leaders have fled together [with your king],
And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.

For the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion. In the Valley of Vision people shout and cry out to the hill.

You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.

The Lord who commands armies told me this: "Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live," says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say ,

What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?

and I'll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I'll transfer your authority to him, and he'll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

"At that time," says the Lord who commands armies, "the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off." Indeed, the Lord has spoken.

Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

Who get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations.

"You who are crossing over to Tarshish Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!

Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth.

Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:

Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds.

But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.

Lo! Yahweh emptying the earth and laying it waste, - And he will overturn the face thereof, And scatter them who dwell therein.

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with him from whom usury is taken.

Yea the earth itself is profaned under them who dwell therein, - For they have Set aside laws, Gone beyond statute, Broken an age-abiding covenant.

Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.

The new wine dries up, the vines shrivel up, all those who like to celebrate groan.

The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases,
The noise of those who rejoice ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.

They do not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.

Panic, pit, and trap await you
who dwell on the earth.

And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine -- tender meat and choicest wine.

It will be said in that day,
“Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation.”

He will spread out his hands in its midst, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands.

Open [the] gates {so that} [the] righteous nation who keeps faithfulness may enter!

You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you.

For He has humbled those who live in lofty places—
an inaccessible city.
He brings it down; He brings it down to the ground;
He throws it to the dust.

It will be crushed under the feet of the poor and the steps of those who are in need.

The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level;
O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.

I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.

Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before you, Yahweh.

Your dead will live;
Their dead bodies will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!
For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],
And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, to punish the sin of those who live on the earth. The earth will display the blood shed on it; it will no longer cover up its slain.

In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Or who will enforce me to keep or make peace?

He shall cause those who come from Jacob to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

Like the striking by Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?

When its branches are withered they shall be broken off; women shall come and set them on fire. For it is a people of no intelligence; therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he who formed them will shew them no favour.

It will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost and perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!

Lo! My Lord hath one who is, strong and bold, Like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, Like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, Hath he thrust it down to the earth with force: