Isaiah 22

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

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

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.

O noiseful, tumultuous city, joyous town? thy slain ones are not slain with the sword, and not those that die 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 made prisoners by the bowmen: all that are found in thee are made prisoners together, who have run away from afar.

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; be not urgent to comfort me, because of the wasting 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 a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity hath the Lord Eternal of hosts in the valley of vision; walls are broken, and crying is heard against the mountain.

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

And 'Elam beareth the quiver, [cometh] with men in chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovereth 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 is so, that thy choicest valleys are full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array against 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 laid open the covering of Judah; and thou didst look on that day toward the armor 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.

And the breaches of the city of David have ye seen, 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 the houses of Jerusalem have ye numbered, and ye have pulled down the houses 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.

And a tank have ye made between the two walls for the water of the old pool; but ye have not looked at the Maker thereof, him that fashioned it in distant times have ye not regarded.

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 the Lord Eternal of hosts called on that day for weeping, and for mourning, and for baldness, and for 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 [there are] gladness and joy, slaying of oxen, and killing of sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we must 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 my ears by the Lord of hosts: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven unto you until ye die, said the Lord the Eternal 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 hath said the Lord, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is [superintendent] over the house;

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 hewn out for thyself here a sepulchre, [the man] that hath hewn out on high his sepulchre, that holloweth out in the rock a habitation for himself?

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

Behold, the Lord will thrust thee about with a mighty throw, O man! and will lay fast hold of 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 roll thee up as a bundle, and [toss thee] like a ball into a country of ample space: there shalt thou die, and there shall [remain] the chariots of thy glory, thou disgrace of the house of thy lord.

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

And I will cast thee out from thy station, and from thy post 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 on that day, that I will call my servant, for Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu.

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 thy girdle will I fasten around him, and thy government will I place into his hand: and he shall be as 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 I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; so that 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 tent-nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a chair of honor 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 shoots and offshoots, all the small vessels, from the vessels of basins, 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.

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