Isaiah 22

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

A message about the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem). What's happening? Why has everyone gone up onto the rooftops?

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.

There are shouts and commotion all over the city with people celebrating. Your dead weren't killed by the sword or in battle.

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 leaders ran away together; they were captured without resistance. All your people trying to escape were captured together, even though they had run a long way 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.'

That's why I said, “Go away! Let me mourn in peace. Don't insist on comforting me as the daughter of my people is ruined.”

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 the Lord has a day of defeat, of panic and confusion in the Valley of Vision, a day of tearing down walls and crying for help to the mountains.

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

The Elamites pick up their quivers full of arrows, and prepare their chariots and horsemen, while the people of Kir uncover their shields ready for battle.

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

Your most productive valleys are now full of enemy chariots; and their cavalry are at your gates!

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.

Judah's defenses have been stripped away and so at that time you went looking for weapons in the Palace of the Forest.

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.

You examined the breaks in the walls of the City of David and found there were many. You had water collect in the lower pool.

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

Your reviewed the number of houses in the city and demolished some to provide stone to repair the walls.

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.

You built a reservoir inside the walls for the waters from the old pool, but you did not respect its Maker or think about the One who planned it long ago.

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;

At that time the Lord, the Lord Almighty, was calling you to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth.

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!'

Instead, you go on happily partying! You slaughter cattle and sheep so you can have your feasts, eating meat and drinking wine, saying, “Let's eat and drink, because we're going to die tomorrow!”

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.

The Lord Almighty has made this clear to me: “I will not forgive this sin till your dying day, says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.”

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

This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, told me to do. “Go to Shebna, the palace manager, and give him this message:

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?

‘What are you doing here? Who do you think you are, cutting out a tomb for yourself high up on a hill, carving out for yourself a place to rest?

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

Watch out, you “great man”! The Lord is about to grab you and violently toss you aside.

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.

He's going to roll you up into a ball, and throw you far away into a vast country. You will die there, and that's where the chariots you were so proud of will remain. You're a disgrace to your lord's royal family.

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

I will push you out of office, I will strip you of your position.

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

After that I will call for my servant, Eliakim, 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.

I will put your robe and place your sash around him, and I will give your authority to him. He will be a father to the people living in Jerusalem and 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.

I will give him the key to the house of David. What he opens, nobody can shut; what he shuts, nobody can 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.

I will drive him like a nail hammered securely into a wall. He will bring honor to his 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.

The heavy burden of his father's family will hang on him—all the descendants and the inlaws—all the little containers, bowls and all kinds of jars.

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.

So the time will come, declares the Lord Almighty, when the nail will come out of the wall, even though it was hammered in securely. It will break off and fall down, and everything hanging on it will fall down too. The Lord has spoken.