Isaiah 22

1 A declaration about the Valley of Vision: What is the reason that you have all gone up to the housetops?

[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?

2 Is it so you may hear a city full of noises, a town full of revelry? Your dead were not killed with the sword, and they did not die in battle.

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].

3 All your rulers fled away together, but they were captured without using a bow; all of them were captured together, though they had fled far away.

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.

4 Therefore I said, “Do not look at me, I will weep bitterly; do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

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

5 For there is a day of tumult, treading down, and confusion for the Lord Yahweh of hosts, in the Valley of Vision, a breaking down of the walls, and people crying out to the mountains.

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.

6 Elam takes up the quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir lays the shield bare.

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

7 It will come about that your choicest valleys will be full of chariots, and the horsemen will take their positions at the gate.

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

8 He took away the protection of Judah; and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.

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”.

9 You saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many, and you collected the water of the lower pool.

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].

10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you tore down the houses to fortify the wall.

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

11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not consider the city's maker, who had planned it long ago.

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.

12 The Lord Yahweh of hosts called on that day for weeping, for mourning, for shaved heads, and the wearing of sackcloth.

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.

13 But look, instead, celebration and gladness, killing cattle and slaughtering sheep, eating meat and drinking wine; let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.

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!”

14 This was revealed in my ears by Yahweh of hosts: “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you, even when you die,” says the Lord Yahweh of hosts.

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

15 The Lord Yahweh of hosts, says this, “Go to this administrator, to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,

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:

16 'What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a tomb for yourself, hewing out a grave on the heights and carving out a resting place in the rock?'”

'[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?

17 See, Yahweh is about to throw you, a mighty man, about to throw you down; he will grasp you tightly.

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,

18 He will surely wind you round and round, and toss you like a ball into a vast country. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be; you will be the shame of your master's house!

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.

19 “I will thrust you from your office and from your station. You will be pulled down.

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

20 It will come about on that day that I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

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

21 I will clothe him with your tunic and put on him your sash, and I will transfer your authority into his hand. He will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

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.

22 I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder; he will open, and none will shut; he will shut, and none will open.

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.

23 I will fasten him, a peg in a secure place, and he will become a seat of glory for his father's house.

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.

24 They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and descendants, every small container from the cups to all the jugs.

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.'”

25 On that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—the peg driven in a firm place will give way, break off, and fall, and the weight that was on it will be cut off—for Yahweh has spoken.

[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.”