Sennacherib

Based on 2 Kings 19.

Sennacherib has trampled down
the gods of every land:
They lie there on the ruined ground,
all victim to his hand.
Then shall we trust the God who saves
when other gods are lost
and topple headlong to our graves
before his endless host?

There's Dagon shattered in the mud,
and Delphi shuts her mouth.
Ba'al wakes not to drink the blood
of prophets crying out.
Osiris looked at him and blenched;
Asherah's pole is snapped;
and even Moloch's thirst is quenched—
lo, all the blood he's lapped.

So now the message comes to us,
all honey-sweet and glib:
We'll be another hive to buzz
for great Sennacherib,
and who shall stand against this king
that shows the gods are weak?
Before the power he will bring,
what promise can we seek?

You lift no sword when all gods fall—
O God, you sink yourself,
and you shall rise above them all
to conquer death by death.
Unforced by any mortal hand,
you are the sacrifice.
And so ends every human plan:
Sennacherib here lies.

Cast of a rock relief of Sennacherib from the foot of Cudi Dağı, near Cizre. The cast is exhibited in Landshut, Germany, Photo By Timo Roller – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39985581