Isaiah 22

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you are wholly gone up to the housetops?

The burden of the valley of vision. What does it mean to you, then, that each of you have even climbed to the rooftops?

2 You that are full of stirs, a tumultuous city, joyous city: your slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

Filled with clamor, a busy city, an exultant city: your dead have not been slain by the sword, nor did they die in battle.

3 All your rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in you are bound together, which have fled from far.

All your leaders have fled together, and they have been bound by hardship. All who were found were chained together. They have fled far away.

4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

For this reason, I said: “Depart from me. I will weep bitterly. Make no attempt to console me, over the devastation of the daughter of my people.”

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

For it is a day of death, and of trampling, and of weeping to the Lord, the God of hosts, in the valley of vision: examining the wall and the magnificence above the mountain.

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

And Elam took up the quiver and the chariot of the horseman; and he stripped the wall of the shield.

7 And it shall come to pass, that your choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

And your elect valleys will be filled with chariots, and the horsemen will position themselves at the gates.

8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and you did look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest.

And the covering of Judah will be exposed, and in that day, you will see the weaponry of the forest house.

9 You have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

And you will see breaches in the city of David, for these have been multiplied. But you have gathered together the waters of the lower fish-pool.

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

And you have numbered the houses of Jerusalem. And you have destroyed the houses in order to fortify the wall.

11 You made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but you have not looked to the maker thereof, neither had respect to him that fashioned it long ago.

And you have made a pit between two walls for the waters of the ancient fish-pool. But you have not gazed upward to him who made it, and you have not considered, even from a distance, its Maker.

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

And in that day, the Lord, the God of hosts, will call to weeping and mourning, to baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.

13 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.

But behold: gladness and rejoicing, the killing of calves and the slaughter of rams, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

14 And it was revealed in my ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die, says the Lord GOD of hosts.

And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you, until you die,” says the Lord, the God of hosts.

15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get you to this treasurer, even to Shebna, which is over the house, and say,

Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: Go forth and enter to him who lives in the tabernacle, to Shebna, who is in charge of the temple, and you shall say to him:

16 What have you here? and whom have you here, that you have hewed you out a sepulcher here, as he that hews him out a sepulcher on high, and that engraves an habitation for himself in a rock?

“What are you here, or who are you claiming to be here? For you have hewn a sepulcher for yourself here. You have diligently hewn a memorial in a rock, as a tabernacle to yourself.

17 Behold, the LORD will carry you away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover you.

Behold, the Lord will cause you to be carried away, like a domesticated rooster, and he will remove you, like an outer garment.

18 He will surely violently turn and toss you like a ball into a large country: there shall you die, and there the chariots of your glory shall be the shame of your lord’s house.

He will crown you with a crown of tribulation. He will toss you like a ball into a broad and spacious land. There you will die, and there the chariot of your glory will be, for it is a shame to the house of your Lord.”

19 And I will drive you from your station, and from your state shall he pull you down.

And I will expel you from your station, and I will depose you from your ministry.

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

And this shall be in that day: I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah.

21 And I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your girdle, and I will commit your government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

And I will clothe him with your vestment, and I will strengthen him with your belt, and I will give your authority to his hand. And he shall be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

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

And I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder. And when he opens, no one will close. And when he closes, no one will open.

23 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.

And I will fasten him like a peg in a trustworthy place. And he will be upon a throne of glory in the house of his father.

24 And they shall hang on 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 they will suspend over him all the glory of his father’s house: various kinds of vessels and every little article, from the vessels of bowls even to every instrument of music.

25 In that day, says the LORD 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 on it shall be cut off: for the LORD has spoken it.

In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg which was fastened in a trustworthy place shall be taken away. And he will be broken, and he will fall, and he will perish, along with all that had depended upon him, because the Lord has spoken it.