Isaiah 22

¹The word about the valley of vision. Why have all your people gone up to the house-tops?

²You, who are full of loud voices, a town of outcries, given up to joy; your dead men have not been put to the sword, or come to their death in war.

³All your rulers ... have gone in flight; all your strong ones have gone far away.

⁴For this cause I have said, Let your eyes be turned away from me in my bitter weeping; I will not be comforted for the wasting of the daughter of my people.

⁵For it is a day of trouble and of crushing down and of destruction from the Lord, the Lord of armies, in the valley of vision; ...

⁶And Elam was armed with arrows, and Aram came on horseback; and the breastplate of Kir was uncovered.

⁷And your most fertile valleys were full of war-carriages, and the horsemen took up their positions in front of the town.

⁸He took away the cover of Judah; and in that day you were looking with care at the store of arms in the house of the woods.

⁹And you saw all the broken places in the wall of the town of David: and you got together the waters of the lower pool.

¹⁰And you had the houses of Jerusalem numbered, pulling down the houses to make the wall stronger.

¹¹And you made a place between the two walls for storing the waters of the old pool: but you gave no thought to him who had done this, and were not looking to him by whom it had been purposed long before.

¹²And in that day the Lord, the Lord of armies, was looking for weeping, and cries of sorrow, cutting off of the hair, and putting on the clothing of grief:

¹³But in place of these there was joy and delight, oxen and sheep were being made ready for food, there was feasting and drinking: men said, Now is the time for food and wine, for tomorrow death comes.

¹⁴And the Lord of armies said to me secretly, Truly, this sin will not be taken from you till your death, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.

¹⁵The Lord, the Lord of armies, says, Go to this person in authority, this Shebna, who is over the house; who has made himself a resting-place on high, cutting out a place for himself in the rock, and say,

¹⁶Who are you, and by what right have you made for yourself a resting-place here?

¹⁷See, O strong man, the Lord will send you violently away, gripping you with force,

¹⁸Twisting you round and round like a ball he will send you out into a wide country: there you will come to your end, and there will be the carriages of your pride, O shame of your lord's house!

¹⁹And I will have you forced out of your place of authority, and pulled down from your position.

²⁰And in that day I will send for my servant, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah:

²¹And I will put your robe on him, and put your band about him, and I will give your authority into his hand: and he will be a father to the men of Jerusalem, and to the family of Judah.

²²And I will give the key of the family of David into his care; and what he keeps open will be shut by no one, and what he keeps shut no one will make open.

²³And I will put him like a nail in a safe place; and he will be for a seat of glory to his father's family.

²⁴And all the glory of his father's family will be hanging on him, all their offspring, every small vessel, even the cups and the basins.

²⁵In that day, says the Lord of armies, will the nail fixed in a safe place give way; and it will be cut down, and in its fall the weight hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has said it.

Isaiah 22

¹The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?

²You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.

³All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away.

⁴Therefore I said, "Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Do not labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁵For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, the Lord of hosts, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains."

⁶Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.

⁷It happened that your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.

⁸He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest.

⁹You saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

¹⁰You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.

¹¹You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.

¹²In that day, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, called to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth:

¹³and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die."

¹⁴The Lord of hosts revealed himself in my ears, "Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

¹⁵Thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, "Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,

¹⁶'What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?' Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!"

¹⁷Behold, the Lord will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly.

¹⁸He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you shame of your lord's house.

¹⁹I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.

²⁰It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

²¹and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

²²I will lay the key of the house of David on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.

²³I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father's house.

²⁴They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.

²⁵"In that day," says the Lord of hosts, "the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down, and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken it."