Isaiah 22:15–25

A Message for Shebna

¹⁵This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message:

¹⁶“Who do you think you are,

and what are you doing here,

building a beautiful tomb for yourself—

a monument high up in the rock?

¹⁷For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man.

He is going to grab you,

¹⁸crumple you into a ball,

and toss you away into a distant, barren land.

There you will die,

and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless.

You are a disgrace to your master!

¹⁹“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position. ²⁰And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. ²¹I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. ²²I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. ²³He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. ²⁴They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”

²⁵But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”