Isaiah 22

1 [I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Jerusalem, about the valley where [Yahweh showed me] this vision. Why is everyone foolishly running up to their [flat] rooftops?

THE WORD OF THE VALLEY OF SION. What has happened to thee, that now ye are all gone up to the housetops which help you not?

2 Everyone in the city [seems to] be shouting. [There are a lot of] corpses [in the city], [but they] were not killed by [their enemies’] swords. They did not die in battles; [instead, they died from diseases and hunger].

The city is filled with shouting [men]: thy slain are not slain with swords, nor are thy dead those who have died in battle.

3 All the leaders of the city fled. [But then] they were captured because they did not have bows [and arrows to defend themselves]. Your [soldiers tried to] flee while the enemy [army] was still far away, but they also were captured.

All thy princes have fled, and [thy] captives are tightly bound, and the mighty [men] in thee have fled far away.

4 That is why I said, “Allow me to cry alone; do not try to comfort me [about my people being slaughtered].”

Therefore I said, Let me alone, I will weep bitterly; labour not to comfort me for the breach of the daughter of my people.

5 The Commander of the armies of angels has [chosen] a time when there will be a great uproar, [soldiers] marching, and people being terrified in the valley [where I received this] vision. [It will be a time when our city] walls will be battered down and [the people’s] cries [for help] will be heard in the mountains.

For [it is] a day of trouble, and of destruction, and of treading down, and [there is] perplexity [sent] from the Lord of hosts: they wander in the valley of Sion; they wander from the least to the greatest on the mountains.

6 The armies from Elam and Kir [in Media] will attack, driving chariots and carrying shields.

And the Elamites took [their] quivers, and [there were] men mounted on horses, and [there was] a gathering for battle.

7 Our beautiful valleys will be filled with [our enemies’] chariots and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside [our city] gates.

And it shall be [that] thy choice valleys shall be filled with chariots, and horsemen shall block up thy gates.

8 The walls that protect [the cities in] Judah will fall down. You [people of Jerusalem] will run to get the weapons [that are stored in the building called] “the Hall of the Forest”.

And they shall uncover the gates of Juda, and they shall look in that day on the choice houses of the city.

9 You will see that there are many breaks/holes in the walls of Jerusalem. You will store water in the lower pool [in the city].

And they shall uncover the secret places of the houses of the citadel of David: and they saw that they were many, and that one [had] turned the water of the old pool into the city;

10 You will inspect the houses in Jerusalem, and [some of] them you will tear down to use the stones to repair the [city] wall.

and that they [had] pulled down the houses of Jerusalem, to fortify the wall of the city.

11 Between the walls [of the city] you will build a reservoir to [store] water from the old pool. But you will never request help from the one who made the city; you have never depended on Yahweh, who planned this city long ago.

And ye procured to yourselves water between the two walls within the ancient pool: but ye looked not to him that made it from the beginning, and regarded not him that created it.

12 The Commander of the armies of angels told you to weep and mourn; he told you to shave your heads and to wear rough sackcloth to show that you were sorry for the sins that you had committed.

And the Lord, the Lord of hosts, called in that day for weeping, and lamentation, and baldness, and for girding with sackcloth:

13 But instead of doing that, you were happy and celebrating; you slaughtered cattle and sheep, [in order to cook their] meat and eat it and drink wine. You said, “Let’s eat and drink [all that we want to], because [it is possible that] we will die tomorrow!”

but they engaged in joy and gladness, slaying calves, and killing sheep, so as to eat flesh, and drink wine; saying, Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.

14 [So] the Commander of the armies of angels revealed this to me: “I will never forgive my people for sinning like this!”

And these things are revealed in the ears of the Lord of hosts: for this sin shall not be forgiven you, until ye die.

15 The Commander of the armies of angels said this [to me]: “Go to Shebna, the official who supervises the workers in the palace, and give this message to him:

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Go into the chamber, to Somnas the treasurer, and say to him, Why art thou here?

16 '[Who do you think you are?] Who gave you the authority to build a beautiful tomb where you will be buried, chiseling it out of the rocky cliff high above this valley?

and what hast thou to do here, that thou hast here hewn thyself a sepulchre, and madest thyself a sepulchre on high, and hast graven for thyself a dwelling in the rock?

17 You [think that you are] [IRO] a great man, but Yahweh is about to hurl you away. [It will be as though] he will seize you,

Behold now, the Lord of hosts casts forth and will utterly destroy [such] a man, and will take away thy robe and thy glorious crown,

18 and roll/crumple you into a ball and throw you away into a large distant land. You will die [and be buried] there, and your beautiful chariots will stay there [in the hands of your enemies]. And [because of what happens to you], your master, [the king], will be [very] ashamed/disgraced.

and will cast thee into a great and unmeasured land, and there thou shalt die: and he will bring thy fair chariot to shame, and the house of thy prince to be trodden down.

19 Yahweh will force you to quit working in the palace; you will be demoted from your important position.

And thou shalt be removed from thy stewardship, and from thy place.

20 Then I will summon Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who has served serve me [well], to replace you.

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

21 I will allow him to wear your robe, and to fasten your sash around him, and I will give to him the authority that you had. He will be like [MET] a father to the people of Jerusalem and [all the other] towns in Judah.

and I will put on him thy robe, and I will grant him thy crown with power, and I will give thy stewardship into his hands: and he shall be as a father to them that dwell in Jerusalem, and to them that dwell in Juda.

22 I will give to him authority [MTY] over [what happens in] the palace where King David [lived]; when he decides something [MET], no one will be able to oppose it; when he refuses to do something, no one will be able to force him to do it.

And I will give him the glory of David; and he shall rule, and there shall be none to speak against him: and I will give him the key of the house of David [upon] his shoulder; and he shall open, and there shall be none to shut; and he shall shut, and there shall be none to open.

23 I will cause his family to be greatly respected, because I will put him firmly in his position [as supervisor of the workers in the palace], like [SIM] a nail that is firmly hammered into a wall.

And I will make him a ruler in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne of his father's house.

24 Others will enable him to have much responsibility, with the result that all the members of his family, even the most insignificant ones, will be honored.'”

And every one that is glorious in the house of his father shall trust in him, from the least to the greatest; and they shall depend upon him in that day.

25 [But] the Commander of the armies of angels also says, “[Shebna is like] [MET] a peg that is firmly fastened to the wall. But there will be a time when I will [remove him from his position]; he will lose his power/influence, and everything that he promoted [MET] will fail. [That will surely happen] because [I], Yahweh, have said it.”

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, The man that is fastened in the sure place shall be removed and be taken away, and shall fall; and the glory that is upon him shall be utterly destroyed: for the Lord has spoken it.