Isaiah 22

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou hast wholly gone up to the house-tops?

This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,

2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain [men are] not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.

3 All thy rulers have fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, [who] have fled from far.

All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.

4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me, because of the devastation of the daughter of my people.

Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

5 For [it is] a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

For the Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the Valley of Vision— of breaking down the walls and crying to the mountains.

6 And Elam bore the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.

7 And it shall come to pass, [that] thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the gates.

8 And he uncovered the coverings of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest.

He has uncovered the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.

9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye collected the waters of the lower pool.

You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool.

10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall.

11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked to its maker, neither had respect to him that fashioned it long ago.

You built a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider Him who planned it long ago.

12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we shall die.

But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

14 And it was revealed in my ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,”

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, repair to this treasurer, [even] to Shebna, who [is] over the house, [and say],

This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace:

16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, [as] he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high, [and] that graveth a habitation for himself in a rock?

What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?

17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.

Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you,

18 With violence he will surely turn and toss thee [like] a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory [shall be] the shame of thy lord's house.

roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain—a disgrace to the house of your master.

19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.

I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.

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

On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

23 And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father.

24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.

So they will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.

25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that [was] upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

In that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and fall, and the load upon it will be cut down.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.