Isaiah 22
1 The oracle on the valley of vision, —What aileth thee, then, That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops?
A message about the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem). What's happening? Why has everyone gone up onto 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 Yea, Elam, beareth the quiver, With trains of men, [and] horsemen, —And, Kir, hath 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 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.
Your most productive valleys are now full of enemy chariots; and their cavalry are at your gates!
8 Then removed he the veil of Judah, —Yea thou didst peer on that day, into the armoury of the forest-house;
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 the breaches in the city of David, ye beheld for they were many, —So 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 the houses of Jerusalem, ye counted, —And brake 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 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.
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, when My Lord Yahweh of hosts called in that day, —for weeping, and for lamentation, and for shaving bare and for 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 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!
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 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.
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, said My Lord Yahweh, of hosts, Come go in unto this steward, 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 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 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 Lo! Yahweh, is about to hurl thee, with a hurl, O mighty man, —And roll thee with a roll;
Watch out, you “great man”! The Lord is about to grab you and violently toss you aside.
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'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 Thus will I thrust thee out from thine office, —And from thy station, shall one tear thee 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 for my servant, for Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
After that I will call for my servant, Eliakim, 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.
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 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;
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 become a throne of glory, to the house of his father;
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 weight of his father’s house—The offshoots and the side-twigs—All the small vessels, Both the cups and all the jugs
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, —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!
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.
