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 prophecy concerning the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, That all thine inhabitants are gone up to the house-tops?
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].
Thou that wast full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous city! Thy slain fall not by the sword; They are not slain 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 leaders flee together, By the bowmen are they bound; All found within thee are made captive together, Even they who have fled from afar.
4 That is why I said, “Allow me to cry alone; do not try to comfort me [about my people being slaughtered].”
Therefore, say I, look away from me, that I may weep bitterly; Strive not to comfort me for the desolation 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 a day of trouble, of desolation, and of perplexity cometh From the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision. They break down the walls; The cry reacheth to the mountains.
6 The armies from Elam and Kir [in Media] will attack, driving chariots and carrying shields.
Elam beareth the quiver, With chariots full of men, and with horsemen; Kir uncovereth the shield.
7 Our beautiful valleys will be filled with [our enemies’] chariots and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside [our city] gates.
Thy fairest valleys, [[O Jerusalem, ]] are full of chariots; The horsemen set themselves in array against the gate;
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”.
The veil of Judah is torn from her. But in such a day ye look to the armor of the house of the forest;
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].
Ye mark how many are the breaches of the city of David, And collect the waters of the lower pool;
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.
Ye number the houses of Jerusalem, And ye break down the houses to prepare the wall;
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.
Ye make a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool; But ye look not to Him who hath done this; Ye regard not Him that hath prepared this from afar.
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.
The Lord, Jehovah of hosts, calleth you this day To weeping and to lamentation, To baldness and to 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, behold, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating flesh and drinking wine! “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!”
Therefore it hath been revealed in my ears by Jehovah of hosts; “This iniquity shall not be forgiven you, till ye die,” Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
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, Jehovah of hosts: Go in to this steward, To Shebna, who is over the household, and say,
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?
What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, That thou here hewest thee out a sepulchre, —That thou hewest out thy sepulchre on high, And gravest out a habitation for thyself 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, Jehovah will cast thee headlong with a mighty thrust;
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.
He will violently roll thee together like a ball; Like a ball will he hurl thee into a wide country. There shalt thou die; And there shall be thy splendid chariots, Thou disgrace of the house of thy lord!
19 Yahweh will force you to quit working in the palace; you will be demoted from your important position.
I will drive thee from thy post, And from thy station I will pull thee down.
20 Then I will summon Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who has served serve me [well], to replace you.
In that day I will call my servant, Even Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah;
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.
I will clothe him with thy robe, And bind thy girdle around him; Thy government will I commit to his hand, And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And to the house of Judah.
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.
I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; He shall open, and none shall shut, And he shall shut, and none shall 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.
I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, And he shall be a glorious seat for 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.'”
Upon him shall hang all the glory of his father's house, The offspring and the offshoots; Every small vessel, from the goblet even to all the pitchers.
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.”
In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, The peg that was once fastened in a sure place shall be moved; It shall be cut down, and fall, And the burden which was upon it shall come to the ground. For Jehovah hath said it.
