Isaiah 22

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

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

2 You, 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.

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

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

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.

4 For 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.

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.

5 For 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; ...

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

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

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

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

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.

8 He 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.

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

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

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

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

11 And 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.

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 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:

And in that day did the Master YHWH of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

13 But 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.

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 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.

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

15 The 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,

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

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

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

Behold, YHWH will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.

18 Twisting 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!

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 master's house.

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

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

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

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

21 And 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.

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 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.

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

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 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.

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, 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.

In that day, saith YHWH 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 YHWH hath spoken it.