Isaiah 22

1 The burden concerning the Valley of Vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops,

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

2 Thou that art full of uproar, a tumultuous city, a joyous town? Thy slain are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

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.

3 All thy rulers are fled together, without the bow they are bound; all that are found of thee are bound together, they are fled afar off.

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

4 Therefore said I: 'Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; strain not to comfort me, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.'

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.

5 For it is a day of trouble, and of trampling, and of perplexity, from the Lord, the GOD of hosts, in the Valley of Vision; Kir shouting, and Shoa at the mount.

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; ...

6 And Elam bore the quiver, with troops of men, even horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.

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

7 And it came to pass, when thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate,

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

8 And the covering of Judah was laid bare, that thou didst look in that day to the armour in the house of the forest.

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.

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

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.

10 And ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye broke down the houses to fortify the wall;

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

11 ye made also a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool — but ye looked not unto Him that had done this, neither had ye respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago.

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.

12 And in that day did the Lord, the GOD of hosts, call to weeping, and to lamentation, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth;

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:

13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine — 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die!'

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.

14 And the LORD of hosts revealed Himself in mine ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you till ye die, saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts.

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.

15 Thus saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts: Go, get thee unto this steward, even unto Shebna, who is over the house:

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,

16 What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out here a sepulchre, thou that hewest thee out a sepulchre on high, and gravest a habitation for thyself in the rock?

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

17 Behold, the LORD will hurl thee up and down with a man's throw; yea, He will wind thee round and round;

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

18 He will violently roll and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of the lord's house.

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!

19 And I will thrust thee from thy post, and from thy station shalt thou be pulled down.

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

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

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

21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and bind 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.

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.

22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

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.

23 And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of honour to his father's house.

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.

24 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.

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.

25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the peg that was fastened in a sure place give way; and it shall be hewn down, and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for the LORD hath spoken it.

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.