Isaiah 14:9-19

“The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. They all call out to him, ‘Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.’” King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?” All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down.