IsaiahChapter 22

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¹This is the message of judgment against the Valley of Vision:
What is wrong with you now?
Why have you all gone up on the rooftops, ²you city full of noise, you town full of wild parties?
Your dead did not die by the sword.
They were not killed in battle. ³All your rulers ran away together.
They were captured without a bow being used.
All who ran away were captured together.
They had run to a place far away. ⁴So I said, "Look away from me.
Let me weep bitter tears!
Do not try to comfort me
over the ruin of my dear people."a ⁵The Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day in the Valley of Vision.
It is a day of panic and trampling and confusion.
It is a day of breaking down walls
and crying out to the mountains. ⁶Elam picks up a quiver of arrows,
with chariots and horsemen.
Kir takes the cover off the shield. ⁷Your best valleys are full of chariots.
Horsemen stand ready at the gates. ⁸He has taken away Judah's protection.
On that day you looked to the weapons
in the House of the Forest. ⁹You saw that there were many holes
in the walls of the City of David.
You collected water from the lower pool. ¹⁰You counted the houses of Jerusalem.
You tore houses down to make the wall stronger. ¹¹You built a pool between the walls
for the water of the old pool.
But you did not look to the One who made it.
You did not think about the One who planned it long ago. ¹²On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called you to weep and wail.
He called you to shave your heads and wear sackcloth. ¹³But look, there is joy and celebration.
Cattle are butchered and sheep are killed.
People eat meat and drink wine.
They say, "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" ¹⁴The LORD of Hosts has made this known in my hearing:
"This sin of yours will never be forgiven
until the day you die,"
says the Lord GOD of Hosts.b ¹⁵This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says:
"Go to Shebna, the manager in charge of the palace. Say to him: ¹⁶'What are you doing here?
Who gave you the right to cut out a tomb for yourself here?
You chisel your tomb up high.
You cut out a resting place for yourself in the rock. ¹⁷Look, you mighty man!
The LORD is about to shake you hard.
He will grab hold of you. ¹⁸He will roll you up into a ball.
He will throw you into a wide land.
There you will die.
There your fancy chariots will stay.
You are a shame to your master's house. ¹⁹I will remove you from your job.
You will be thrown out of your position. ²⁰On that day I will call my servant,
Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹I will dress him in your robe.
I will tie your sash around him.
I will put your power in his hand.
He will be a father to the people of Jerusalem
and to the house of Judah. ²²I will put the key to the house of David on his shoulder.
What he opens, no one can shut.
What he shuts, no one can open. ²³I will drive him like a peg into a firm place.
He will be a seat of honor for his father's house. ²⁴They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house.
They will hang his children and family on him,
like all the small dishes,
from bowls to every kind of jar. ²⁵On that day, says the LORD of Hosts,
the peg driven into a firm place will give way.
It will be cut off and fall.
The load hanging on it will fall too.'"
Yes, the LORD has spoken.