Isaiah 22

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

A prophecy^a concerning the Valley^b of Vision:^c

What troubles you now,

that you have all gone up on the roofs,^d

you town so full of commotion,

you city of tumult^e and revelry?^f

Your slain^g were not killed by the sword,^h

nor did they die in battle.

All your leaders have fledⁱ together;

they have been captured^j without using the bow.

All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,

having fled while the enemy was still far away.

Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;

let me weep^k bitterly.

Do not try to console me

over the destruction of my people.”^l

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day^m

of tumult and tramplingⁿ and terror^o

in the Valley of Vision,^p

a day of battering down walls^q

and of crying out to the mountains.

Elam^r takes up the quiver,^s

with her charioteers and horses;

Kir^t uncovers the shield.

Your choicest valleys^u are full of chariots,

and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^v

The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,

and you looked in that day^w

to the weapons^x in the Palace of the Forest.^y

You saw that the City of David

had many breaches^z in its defenses;

you stored up water

in the Lower Pool.^a

You counted the buildings in Jerusalem

and tore down houses^b to strengthen the wall.^c

You built a reservoir between the two walls^d

for the water of the Old Pool,^e

but you did not look to the One who made it,

or have regard^f for the One who planned^g it long ago.

The Lord, the Lord Almighty,

called you on that day^h

to weepⁱ and to wail,

to tear out your hair^j and put on sackcloth.^k

But see, there is joy and revelry,^l

slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,

eating of meat and drinking of wine!^m

“Let us eat and drink,” you say,

“for tomorrow we die!”ⁿ

The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:^o “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned^p for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,

to Shebna,^q who is in charge^r of the palace:^s

What are you doing here and who gave you permission

to cut out a grave^t for yourself^u here,

hewing your grave on the height

and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

“Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you

and hurl^v you away, you mighty man.

He will roll you up tightly like a ball

and throw^w you into a large country.

There you will die

and there the chariots^x you were so proud of

will become a disgrace to your master’s house.

I will depose you from your office,

and you will be ousted^y from your position.^z

“In that day^a I will summon my servant,^b Eliakim^c son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash^d around him and hand your authority^e over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder^f the key^g to the house of David;^h what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.ⁱ I will drive him like a peg^j into a firm place;^k he will become a seat of honor^l for the house of his father. All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

“In that day,^m” declares the Lord Almighty, “the pegⁿ driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.^o