< Isaiah 22 >

1 The oracle on the valley of vision, —What aileth thee, then, That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops?
The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops?
2 With tumults, art thou filled, thou citadel in commotion! city exultant! Thy slain, are Not the slain, of the sword, Nor the dead in battle.
Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle.
3 All thy ruler, having fled, together, by the bow, are taken captive: All found in thee have been taken captive, together, Far away, have they fled.
All the princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off.
4 For this cause, I said—Look away from me, Bitterly, will I weep, —Do not press to comfort me, For the ruin of the daughter of my people.
Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people.
5 For a day of confusion and downtreading and perplexity, pertaineth to My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, in the valley of vision, an undermining of walls, and a crying for help to the mountain.
For it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain.
6 Yea, Elam, beareth the quiver, With trains of men, [and] horsemen, —And, Kir, hath uncovered the shield.
And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall.
7 And it hath come to pass that the choice of thy vales, are full of chariots; Yea, the horsemen, have set themselves, in array, at the gate.
And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horseman shall place themselves in the gate.
8 Then removed he the veil of Judah, —Yea thou didst peer on that day, into the armoury of the forest-house;
And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest.
9 And the breaches in the city of David, ye beheld for they were many, —So ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool;
And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower pool,
10 And the houses of Jerusalem, ye counted, —And brake down the houses, to fortify the wall;
And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And a reservoir, ye made between the two walls, for the waters of the ancient pool, —And had no regard unto him that made it, Nor unto him that formed it long ago, had ye respect.
And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago.
12 And, when My Lord Yahweh of hosts called in that day, —for weeping, and for lamentation, and for shaving bare and for girding with sackcloth,
And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
13 Then lo! joy and rejoicing, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, —Let us eat and drink, For to-morrow, we may die!
And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.
14 Therefore did Yahweh reveal himself in mine ears. Surely there shall be no propitiatory-covering put over this iniquity for you until ye die, Saith My Lord Yahweh of hosts.
And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus, said My Lord Yahweh, of hosts, Come go in unto this steward, Unto Shebna, who is over the house:
Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him:
16 What doest thou here? And whom hast thou here? That thou hast hewn for thyself here a sepulchre, —As one hewing on high his sepulchre, Cutting out in the cliff a habitation for himself?
What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock.
17 Lo! Yahweh, is about to hurl thee, with a hurl, O mighty man, —And roll thee with a roll;
Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment.
18 He will, toss, thee, with a toss, like a ball, into a country wide on both hands, —There, shalt thou die, And there shall thy glorious chariots be the contempt of the house of thy lord.
He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord.
19 Thus will I thrust thee out from thine office, —And from thy station, shall one tear thee down.
And I will drive thee out From thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, That I will call for my servant, for Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias,
21 And will clothe him with thy tunic And with thy girdle, will I gird him, And thine authority, will I deliver into his hand, —So shall he become a father To the inhabitant of Jerusalem and To the house of Judah.
And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda.
22 And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, —And he shall open and none shall shut, And shut and none shall open;
And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, —And he shall become a throne of glory, to the house of his father;
And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the weight of his father’s house—The offshoots and the side-twigs—All the small vessels, Both the cups and all the jugs
And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music.
25 In that day, —Declareth Yahweh of hosts Shall the peg, give way, that was fastened in a sure place, —Yea it shall be cut off and fall And the burden that was upon it shall perish, For, Yahweh, hath spoken!
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it.

< Isaiah 22 >