Study Desk

that you will ^(C1)take up this ^(F1)taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, "How ^(C2)the oppressor has ceased, And how the ^(F2)onslaught has ceased!

-"The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers,

^(C1)Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, Which ^(F1)subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

-"The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; They ^(C1)break forth into shouts of joy.

-"Even the ^(C1)juniper trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you have been laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.'

-"^(C1)Sheol below is excited about you, to meet you when you come; It stirs the ^(F1)spirits of the dead for you, all the ^(F2)leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.

-"^(C1)They will all respond and say to you, 'Even you have become weak as we, You have become like us.

-'Your ^(C1)pride and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you And worms are your covering.'

-"How you have ^(C1)fallen from heaven, You ^(F1)(C2)star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who defeated the nations!

-"But you said in your heart, 'I will ^(C1)ascend to heaven; I will ^(C2)raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.

-'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; ^(C1)I will make myself like the Most High.'

-"Nevertheless you ^(C1)will be brought down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.

-"Those who see you will stare at you, They will ^(F1)closely examine you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,

Who made the world like a ^(C1)wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who ^(C2)did not ^(F1)allow his prisoners to go home?'

-"All the kings of the nations lie in glory, Each in his own ^(F1)tomb.

-"But you have been ^(C1)hurled out of your tomb Like ^(F1)a rejected branch, ^(F2)Clothed with those killed who have been pierced with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the ^(C2)pit Like a ^(C3)trampled corpse.

-"You will not be united with them in burial, Because you have ruined your country, You have killed your people. May the ^(C1)descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.

-"Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons Because of the ^(C1)wrongdoing of their fathers. They must not arise and take possession of the earth, And fill the surface of the world with cities."