Isaiah 22

1 The oracle on the valley of vision, —What aileth thee, then, That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops?

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 With tumults, art thou filled, thou citadel in commotion! city exultant! Thy slain, are Not the slain, of the sword, Nor the 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 thy ruler, having fled, together, by the bow, are taken captive: All found in thee have been taken captive, together, Far away, have they fled.

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 For this cause, I said—Look away from me, Bitterly, will I weep, —Do not press to comfort me, For the ruin 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 a day of confusion and downtreading and perplexity, pertaineth to My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, in the valley of vision, an undermining of walls, and a crying for help to the mountain.

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 Yea, Elam, beareth the quiver, With trains of men, [and] horsemen, —And, Kir, hath 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 hath come to pass that the choice of thy vales, are full of chariots; Yea, the horsemen, have 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 Then removed he the veil of Judah, —Yea thou didst peer on that day, into the armoury of the forest-house;

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

9 And the breaches in the city of David, ye beheld for they were many, —So ye 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 the houses of Jerusalem, ye counted, —And brake down the houses, 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 And a reservoir, ye made between the two walls, for the waters of the ancient pool, —And had no regard unto him that made it, Nor unto him that formed it long ago, had ye respect.

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, when My Lord Yahweh of hosts called in that day, —for weeping, and for lamentation, and for shaving bare and for 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 Then lo! joy and rejoicing, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, —Let us eat and drink, For to-morrow, we may 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 Therefore did Yahweh reveal himself in mine ears. Surely there shall be no propitiatory-covering put over this iniquity for you until ye die, Saith My Lord Yahweh 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, said My Lord Yahweh, of hosts, Come go in unto this steward, Unto Shebna, who is over the house:

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 doest thou here? And whom hast thou here? That thou hast hewn for thyself here a sepulchre, —As one hewing on high his sepulchre, Cutting out in the cliff a habitation for himself?

“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 Lo! Yahweh, is about to hurl thee, with a hurl, O mighty man, —And roll thee with a roll;

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, toss, thee, with a toss, like a ball, into a country wide on both hands, —There, shalt thou die, And there shall thy glorious chariots be the contempt of the house of thy lord.

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 Thus will I thrust thee out from thine office, —And from thy station, shall one tear thee 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 for my servant, for Eliakim son of Hilkiah,

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

21 And will clothe him with thy tunic And with thy girdle, will I gird him, And thine authority, will I deliver into his hand, —So shall he become a father To the inhabitant 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 I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, —And he shall open and none shall shut, And 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 peg in a sure place, —And he shall become a throne of glory, to the house of his father;

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 upon him all the weight of his father’s house—The offshoots and the side-twigs—All the small vessels, Both the cups and all the jugs

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, —Declareth Yahweh of hosts Shall the peg, give way, that was fastened in a sure place, —Yea it shall be cut off and fall And the burden that was upon it shall perish, For, Yahweh, hath spoken!

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.