Read the Bible

"The mighty man has been destroyed.
    Yes, your insolence^[b] is ended.
⁵ For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
    and broken your evil rule.
⁶ You struck the people with endless blows of rage
    and held the nations in your angry grip
    with unrelenting tyranny.
⁷ But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
    Now it can sing again!
⁸ Even the trees of the forest—
    the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
    sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
    no one will come now to cut us down!'

⁹ "In the place of the dead^[c] there is excitement
    over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
    stand up to see you.
¹⁰ With one voice they all cry out,
    ‘Now you are as weak as we are!
¹¹ Your might and power were buried with you.^[d]
    The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
    and worms your blanket.'

¹² "How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
¹³ For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.^[e]
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.'
¹⁵ Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
    down to its lowest depths.
¹⁶ Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
    and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
¹⁷ Is this the one who destroyed the world
    and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world's greatest cities
    and had no mercy on his prisoners?'

¹⁸ "The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,
    each in his own tomb,
¹⁹ but you will be thrown out of your grave
    like a worthless branch.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
    you will be dumped into a mass grave
    with those killed in battle.
You will descend to the pit.
²⁰     You will not be given a proper burial,
for you have destroyed your nation
    and slaughtered your people.
The descendants of such an evil person
    will never again receive honor.
²¹ Kill this man's children!
    Let them die because of their father's sins!
They must not rise and conquer the earth,
    filling the world with their cities."

²² This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says:
    "I, myself, have risen against Babylon!
I will destroy its children and its children's children,"
    says the Lord.
²³ "I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls,
    filled with swamps and marshes.
I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction.
    I, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, have spoken!"

"It will all happen as I have planned.
    It will be as I have decided.
²⁵ I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel;
    I will trample them on my mountains.
My people will no longer be their slaves
    nor bow down under their heavy loads.
²⁶ I have a plan for the whole earth,
    a hand of judgment upon all the nations.
²⁷ The Lord of Heaven's Armies has spoken—
    who can change his plans?
When his hand is raised,
    who can stop him?"

²⁹ Do not rejoice, you Philistines,
    that the rod that struck you is broken—
    that the king who attacked you is dead.
For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born,
    a fiery serpent to destroy you!
³⁰ I will feed the poor in my pasture;
    the needy will lie down in peace.
But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine
    and destroy the few who remain.
³¹ Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities!
    Melt with fear, you Philistines!
A powerful army comes like smoke from the north.
    Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight.

"The Lord has built Jerusalem^[g];
    its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people."