Isaiah 22

1 This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,

[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Jerusalem, about the valley where [Yahweh showed me] this vision. Why is everyone foolishly running up to their [flat] rooftops?

2 O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.

Everyone in the city [seems to] be shouting. [There are a lot of] corpses [in the city], [but they] were not killed by [their enemies’] swords. They did not die in battles; [instead, they died from diseases and hunger].

3 All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.

All the leaders of the city fled. [But then] they were captured because they did not have bows [and arrows to defend themselves]. Your [soldiers tried to] flee while the enemy [army] was still far away, but they also were captured.

4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

That is why I said, “Allow me to cry alone; do not try to comfort me [about my people being slaughtered].”

5 For the Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the Valley of Vision— of breaking down the walls and crying to the mountains.

The Commander of the armies of angels has [chosen] a time when there will be a great uproar, [soldiers] marching, and people being terrified in the valley [where I received this] vision. [It will be a time when our city] walls will be battered down and [the people’s] cries [for help] will be heard in the mountains.

6 Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.

The armies from Elam and Kir [in Media] will attack, driving chariots and carrying shields.

7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the gates.

Our beautiful valleys will be filled with [our enemies’] chariots and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside [our city] gates.

8 He has uncovered the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.

The walls that protect [the cities in] Judah will fall down. You [people of Jerusalem] will run to get the weapons [that are stored in the building called] “the Hall of the Forest”.

9 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool.

You will see that there are many breaks/holes in the walls of Jerusalem. You will store water in the lower pool [in the city].

10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall.

You will inspect the houses in Jerusalem, and [some of] them you will tear down to use the stones to repair the [city] wall.

11 You built a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider Him who planned it long ago.

Between the walls [of the city] you will build a reservoir to [store] water from the old pool. But you will never request help from the one who made the city; you have never depended on Yahweh, who planned this city long ago.

12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

The Commander of the armies of angels told you to weep and mourn; he told you to shave your heads and to wear rough sackcloth to show that you were sorry for the sins that you had committed.

13 But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

But instead of doing that, you were happy and celebrating; you slaughtered cattle and sheep, [in order to cook their] meat and eat it and drink wine. You said, “Let’s eat and drink [all that we want to], because [it is possible that] we will die tomorrow!”

14 The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,”

[So] the Commander of the armies of angels revealed this to me: “I will never forgive my people for sinning like this!”

15 This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace:

The Commander of the armies of angels said this [to me]: “Go to Shebna, the official who supervises the workers in the palace, and give this message to him:

16 What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?

'[Who do you think you are?] Who gave you the authority to build a beautiful tomb where you will be buried, chiseling it out of the rocky cliff high above this valley?

17 Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you,

You [think that you are] [IRO] a great man, but Yahweh is about to hurl you away. [It will be as though] he will seize you,

18 roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain—a disgrace to the house of your master.

and roll/crumple you into a ball and throw you away into a large distant land. You will die [and be buried] there, and your beautiful chariots will stay there [in the hands of your enemies]. And [because of what happens to you], your master, [the king], will be [very] ashamed/disgraced.

19 I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.

Yahweh will force you to quit working in the palace; you will be demoted from your important position.

20 On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

Then I will summon Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who has served serve me [well], to replace you.

21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

I will allow him to wear your robe, and to fasten your sash around him, and I will give to him the authority that you had. He will be like [MET] a father to the people of Jerusalem and [all the other] towns in Judah.

22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

I will give to him authority [MTY] over [what happens in] the palace where King David [lived]; when he decides something [MET], no one will be able to oppose it; when he refuses to do something, no one will be able to force him to do it.

23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father.

I will cause his family to be greatly respected, because I will put him firmly in his position [as supervisor of the workers in the palace], like [SIM] a nail that is firmly hammered into a wall.

24 So they will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.

Others will enable him to have much responsibility, with the result that all the members of his family, even the most insignificant ones, will be honored.'”

25 In that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and fall, and the load upon it will be cut down.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

[But] the Commander of the armies of angels also says, “[Shebna is like] [MET] a peg that is firmly fastened to the wall. But there will be a time when I will [remove him from his position]; he will lose his power/influence, and everything that he promoted [MET] will fail. [That will surely happen] because [I], Yahweh, have said it.”