Isaiah 22
1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops?
[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 Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead 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 the princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off.
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 have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation 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 it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain.
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 And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall.
The armies from Elam and Kir [in Media] will attack, driving chariots and carrying shields.
7 And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horseman shall place themselves in the gate.
Our beautiful valleys will be filled with [our enemies’] chariots and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside [our city] gates.
8 And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of 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 And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of 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 And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify 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 And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought 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 And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with 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 And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall 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 And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts.
[So] the Commander of the armies of angels revealed this to me: “I will never forgive my people for sinning like this!”
15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him:
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 dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a 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 Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment.
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 He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord.
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 And I will drive thee out From thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry.
Yahweh will force you to quit working in the palace; you will be demoted from your important position.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias,
Then I will summon Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who has served serve me [well], to replace you.
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda.
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 And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall 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 And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to 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 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music.
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, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it.
[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.”
