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Jerusalemites rebuked

22 An oracle about the Valley of Vision.

What is wrong with you,
    that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
    you who are filled with noise,
    you roaring city, you party town?
Your dead weren’t slaughtered by the sword;
    they didn’t die in battle.
All your leaders escaped together
    but were captured without a single bow shot.
    All your escapees were bound together, even though they fled far away.[a]
Therefore, I said, “Don’t look at me;
        let me weep bitterly.
    Don’t try to comfort me
        about the destruction of my dearly loved people.”
The Lord God of heavenly forces has a day of tumult and trampling and turmoil in the Valley of Vision,
        a breaking down of walls,
        a cry for help to the mountains.
Elam carried the quiver with chariots and horsemen,
    and Kir uncovered the shield.
Your finest valleys were filled with chariots,
    and horsemen doggedly guarded the gate.
Judah’s covering has been stripped away.

On that day, you trusted the weapons in the Forest House.
    You observed the many broken defenses in David’s City,
    and you collected the waters of the lower pool.
10 You counted Jerusalem’s houses,
    and you tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 You made a reservoir between the walls for the water of the earlier pool.
    But you didn’t trust its maker;
    you didn’t consider the one who planned it long ago.

12 The Lord God of heavenly forces called on that day
    for weeping and mourning, and shaven heads, and wearing of mourning clothes.
13 But instead there was
    fun and frivolity,
    killing of cattle
    and slaughtering of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine:
    “Eat and drink! Tomorrow we will die!”
14 But the Lord of heavenly forces has revealed in my hearing:
    This iniquity won’t be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord God of heavenly forces.

An administrator rebuked

15 The Lord God of heavenly forces says, Go now to this official, to Shebna, who is in charge of the house, and say to him:
16     What do you have here—and whom do you have here—
    that you have hewed out a tomb for yourself,
        you who cuts his grave on high and carves himself a home in the cliff?
17 The Lord is about to hurl you down, mighty man!

    He is surely going to cover you with darkness;
18     he will indeed unroll your head wrapping,
        rolling it like a ball into the open country.
        There you will die, with your glorious chariots,
        you disgrace to the house of your master!
19 I will thrust you from your monument;
    you will be pulled down from your platform.
20 On that day, I will call my servant
    Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son.
21 I will give him your robe and wrap him in your sash,
    and I will hand over to him your authority.
He will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and to the house of Judah.
22 I will place the key to David’s house on his shoulder;
    what he opens no one will close,
    and what he closes no one will open.
23 I will fasten him securely like a tent peg,
    and he will be a throne of honor for his ancestors’ house.

24 All the honor of his household will hang on him, the offspring and the offshoots, every little dish, every bowl, every jar.

25 On that day, says the Lord of heavenly forces, the peg that is fastened securely will give way; it will be cut down, and it will fall, and all the load hanging on it will be lost. The Lord has spoken.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:3 Heb uncertain

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

22 A prophecy(A) against the Valley(B) of Vision:(C)

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,(D)
you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult(E) and revelry?(F)
Your slain(G) were not killed by the sword,(H)
    nor did they die in battle.
All your leaders have fled(I) together;
    they have been captured(J) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep(K) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”(L)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day(M)
    of tumult and trampling(N) and terror(O)
    in the Valley of Vision,(P)
a day of battering down walls(Q)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
Elam(R) takes up the quiver,(S)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir(T) uncovers the shield.
Your choicest valleys(U) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.(V)

The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day(W)
    to the weapons(X) in the Palace of the Forest.(Y)
You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through(Z) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.(AA)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses(AB) to strengthen the wall.(AC)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(AD)
    for the water of the Old Pool,(AE)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard(AF) for the One who planned(AG) it long ago.

12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day(AH)
to weep(AI) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair(AJ) and put on sackcloth.(AK)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(AL)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!(AM)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”(AN)

14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(AO) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(AP) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna(AQ) the palace(AR) administrator:(AS)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave(AT) for yourself(AU) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl(AV) you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw(AW) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots(AX) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted(AY) from your position.(AZ)

20 “In that day(BA) I will summon my servant,(BB) Eliakim(BC) son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash(BD) around him and hand your authority(BE) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder(BF) the key(BG) to the house of David;(BH) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(BI) 23 I will drive him like a peg(BJ) into a firm place;(BK) he will become a seat[a] of honor(BL) for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

25 “In that day,(BM)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg(BN) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.(BO)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:23 Or throne