Isaiah
Chapter 22
1 The trouble with the Valley of Vision. What’s wrong with you that you’ve all gone up to the rooftops?
2 You are busy and noisy, a city full of chaos, a city of joy: your dead were not killed by the sword, nor died in war.
3 All your leaders have run away together, they’ve been captured by the archers; everyone found in you is tied up, after having fled from a distance.
4 So I said, “Turn away from me; I will cry hard. Do not try to comfort me because my people have been destroyed.”
5 It is a day of trouble, stomping, and confusion by God in the vision valley, tearing down walls, and shouting to the mountains.
6 Elam carried the arrows with chariots and horsemen, and Kir took off the shield cover.
7 Your best valleys will be filled with chariots, and horsemen will line up at the gate.
8 He removed Judah’s protection, and you looked for weapons in the Forest House on that day.
9 You have also seen the breaks in the wall of the city of David; there are many. And you collected the water from the lower pool.
10 You have counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you have torn down some to strengthen the wall.
11 You also made a trench between the two walls for the water from the old pool, but you did not consider its creator or show respect to the one who made it long ago.
12 On that day, God called for crying, sorrow, shaved heads, and wearing rough cloth.
13 Look, happiness and fun, killing cows and sheep, eating meat, and drinking wine: let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we will die.
14 God told me, “This sin will not be forgiven until you die,” says God.
15 This is what God says: Go to Shebna, the treasurer who is in charge of the palace, and tell him.
16 What do you have here? Who is with you that you’ve carved a tomb here, like one who cuts a tomb up high and chisels a home for himself in the rock?
17 Look, God will take you away with strong force and will surely hide you.
18 God will surely throw you around roughly like a ball into a big land; there you will die, and there your splendid chariots will become your master’s disgrace.
19 I will force you out of your position, and he will bring you down from your high status.
20 On that day, I will call my servant Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son.
21 I will dress him in your robe, give him your belt to make him strong, and put him in charge of your duties. He will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the family of Judah.
22 I will put the key to David’s house on his shoulder; he will open, and no one can close; he will close, and no one can open.
23 I will secure him like a nail in a firm place; and he will be like a magnificent seat of honor for his family.
24 They will place on him all the honor of his family, the children and descendants, every small container, from cups to all types of jugs.
25 On that day, God says, the secure nail will be taken out, cut down, and fall; and the load on it will be removed because God has said so.