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 oracle on the valley of vision, —What aileth thee, then, That thou art wholly 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].
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.
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 ruler, having fled, together, by the bow, are taken captive: All found in thee have been taken captive, together, Far away, have they fled.
4 That is why I said, “Allow me to cry alone; do not try to comfort me [about my people being slaughtered].”
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.
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 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.
6 The armies from Elam and Kir [in Media] will attack, driving chariots and carrying shields.
Yea, Elam, beareth the quiver, With trains of men, [and] horsemen, —And, Kir, hath uncovered 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.
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.
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”.
Then removed he the veil of Judah, —Yea thou didst peer on that day, into the armoury of the forest-house;
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 the breaches in the city of David, ye beheld for they were many, —So ye gathered together 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.
And the houses of Jerusalem, ye counted, —And brake down the houses, to fortify 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.
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.
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, when My Lord Yahweh of hosts called in that day, —for weeping, and for lamentation, and for shaving bare 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!”
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!
14 [So] the Commander of the armies of angels revealed this to me: “I will never forgive my people for sinning like this!”
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.
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, said My Lord Yahweh, of hosts, Come go in unto this steward, Unto Shebna, who is over the house:
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 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?
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,
Lo! Yahweh, is about to hurl thee, with a hurl, O mighty man, —And roll thee with a roll;
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, 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.
19 Yahweh will force you to quit working in the palace; you will be demoted from your important position.
Thus will I thrust thee out from thine office, —And from thy station, shall one tear thee down.
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 for my servant, for Eliakim 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.
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.
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 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;
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 fasten him as a peg in a sure place, —And he shall become a throne of glory, to the house of his father;
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 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
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, —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!
