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Oracle against Jerusalem

22 The oracle of the valley of vision:

What business do you have going[a] up, all of you, to the roofs,

noisy,[b] tumultuous city,
    exultant town?
Your slain are not slain by the sword,
    nor are they dead from battle.
All of your rulers have fled together without a bow;
    all of you who were found[c] were captured.
They were captured together;
    they had fled far away.

Therefore I said,

“Look away from me,
    let me weep bitterly;[d]
you must not insist on comforting me
    for the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion[e] in the valley of vision,
    a tearing down of walls[f] and a cry for help to the mountains.[g]
And Elam lifted up the quiver,
        with chariots[h] of men[i] and cavalry.
    And Kir uncovered the shield.

And this happened:

the choicest of your valleys were full of chariots,[j]
    and the cavalry confidently stood at the gate.
        And he uncovered the covering of Judah.
And you looked, on that day, to the weapons[k] of the House of the Forest,
    and you saw that the breaches in the walls of the city of David were many,
        and you gathered the waters of the lower pool.
10 And you counted the houses of Jerusalem,
    and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.
11         And you made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the old pool,
but you did not look to its maker,
    and you did not see the one who created it long ago.[l]

12 And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day

for weeping and mourning,
    and for baldness and girding with[m] sackcloth.
13 But look! Joy and gladness,
    the killing of oxen[n] and the slaughtering of sheep,
the eating of meat and the drinking of wine!
    “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

14 And it was revealed in my ears by Yahweh of hosts:

“Surely this sin will not be atoned for you until you die!”
    says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

Oracle regarding Shebna

15 The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this:

“Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna,
    who is over the house:
16 ‘What business do you have[o] here,
    and who do you have[p] here,
that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself,
    carving his grave on the height,
    a dwelling place for him in the rock?
17 Look! Yahweh is about to really hurl[q] you, man!
    And he is about to grasp you firmly;
18         he will wind a winding tightly around you like a ball, to a wide land.[r]
There you shall die,
    and there the chariots of your splendor will be,
        disgrace to your master’s house!
19 And I will push you from your office,
    and he will throw you down from your position.

20 And this shall happen:

On that day I will call to my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
21     and I will clothe him with your tunic,
and I will bind your sash firmly about him,
    and I will put your authority into his hand,
and he shall be like a father to the inhabitants[s] of Jerusalem
    and to the house of Judah.
22 And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder,
    and he shall open and no one will be able to shut;
    and he shall shut and no one will be able to open.
23 And I will drive him in like a peg into a secure place,
    and he will become like a throne of glory to the house of his father.
24 And they will hang all of the heaviness of his father’s house on him,
    the offspring and the offshoot,
all of the small vessels,
    from the bowls to the jars.[t]

25 On that day, declares[u] Yahweh of hosts, the peg that was driven will move away into a secure place, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on her will be cut off. For Yahweh has spoken.’”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:1 Literally “What to you then that you have gone”
  2. Isaiah 22:2 Literally “full of noises”
  3. Isaiah 22:3 Literally “your found ones”
  4. Isaiah 22:4 Literally “be bitter in weeping”
  5. Isaiah 22:5 These three Hebrew words are alliterative: mehûmâûmeḇûsâûmeḇûḵâ
  6. Isaiah 22:5 Hebrew “wall”
  7. Isaiah 22:5 Hebrew “mountain”
  8. Isaiah 22:6 Hebrew “chariot”
  9. Isaiah 22:6 Hebrew “man”
  10. Isaiah 22:7 Hebrew “chariot”
  11. Isaiah 22:8 Hebrew “weapon”
  12. Isaiah 22:11 Literally “its creator from far away”
  13. Isaiah 22:12 Literally “of”
  14. Isaiah 22:13 Hebrew “ox”
  15. Isaiah 22:16 Literally “to you”
  16. Isaiah 22:16 Literally “to you”
  17. Isaiah 22:17 Literally “hurl a hurling”
  18. Isaiah 22:18 Literally “land broad of sides”
  19. Isaiah 22:21 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  20. Isaiah 22:24 Literally “vessels of the bowls to all of the vessels of the jars”
  21. Isaiah 22:25 Literally “declaration of”

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

22 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.

Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.

Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.

12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.

15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,

16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?

17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.

18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.

19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:

21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.

25 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it.