Isaiah 22

1 [I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Jerusalem, about the valley where [Yahweh showed me] this vision. Why is everyone foolishly running up to their [flat] rooftops?

A message about the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem). What's happening? Why has everyone gone up onto the rooftops?

2 Everyone in the city [seems to] be shouting. [There are a lot of] corpses [in the city], [but they] were not killed by [their enemies’] swords. They did not die in battles; [instead, they died from diseases and hunger].

There are shouts and commotion all over the city with people celebrating. Your dead weren't killed by the sword or in battle.

3 All the leaders of the city fled. [But then] they were captured because they did not have bows [and arrows to defend themselves]. Your [soldiers tried to] flee while the enemy [army] was still far away, but they also were captured.

All your leaders ran away together; they were captured without resistance. All your people trying to escape were captured together, even though they had run a long way away.

4 That is why I said, “Allow me to cry alone; do not try to comfort me [about my people being slaughtered].”

That's why I said, “Go away! Let me mourn in peace. Don't insist on comforting me as the daughter of my people is ruined.”

5 The Commander of the armies of angels has [chosen] a time when there will be a great uproar, [soldiers] marching, and people being terrified in the valley [where I received this] vision. [It will be a time when our city] walls will be battered down and [the people’s] cries [for help] will be heard in the mountains.

For the Lord has a day of defeat, of panic and confusion in the Valley of Vision, a day of tearing down walls and crying for help to the mountains.

6 The armies from Elam and Kir [in Media] will attack, driving chariots and carrying shields.

The Elamites pick up their quivers full of arrows, and prepare their chariots and horsemen, while the people of Kir uncover their shields ready for battle.

7 Our beautiful valleys will be filled with [our enemies’] chariots and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside [our city] gates.

Your most productive valleys are now full of enemy chariots; and their cavalry are at your gates!

8 The walls that protect [the cities in] Judah will fall down. You [people of Jerusalem] will run to get the weapons [that are stored in the building called] “the Hall of the Forest”.

Judah's defenses have been stripped away and so at that time you went looking for weapons in the Palace of the Forest.

9 You will see that there are many breaks/holes in the walls of Jerusalem. You will store water in the lower pool [in the city].

You examined the breaks in the walls of the City of David and found there were many. You had water collect in the lower pool.

10 You will inspect the houses in Jerusalem, and [some of] them you will tear down to use the stones to repair the [city] wall.

Your reviewed the number of houses in the city and demolished some to provide stone to repair the walls.

11 Between the walls [of the city] you will build a reservoir to [store] water from the old pool. But you will never request help from the one who made the city; you have never depended on Yahweh, who planned this city long ago.

You built a reservoir inside the walls for the waters from the old pool, but you did not respect its Maker or think about the One who planned it long ago.

12 The Commander of the armies of angels told you to weep and mourn; he told you to shave your heads and to wear rough sackcloth to show that you were sorry for the sins that you had committed.

At that time the Lord, the Lord Almighty, was calling you to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth.

13 But instead of doing that, you were happy and celebrating; you slaughtered cattle and sheep, [in order to cook their] meat and eat it and drink wine. You said, “Let’s eat and drink [all that we want to], because [it is possible that] we will die tomorrow!”

Instead, you go on happily partying! You slaughter cattle and sheep so you can have your feasts, eating meat and drinking wine, saying, “Let's eat and drink, because we're going to die tomorrow!”

14 [So] the Commander of the armies of angels revealed this to me: “I will never forgive my people for sinning like this!”

The Lord Almighty has made this clear to me: “I will not forgive this sin till your dying day, says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.”

15 The Commander of the armies of angels said this [to me]: “Go to Shebna, the official who supervises the workers in the palace, and give this message to him:

This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, told me to do. “Go to Shebna, the palace manager, and give him this message:

16 '[Who do you think you are?] Who gave you the authority to build a beautiful tomb where you will be buried, chiseling it out of the rocky cliff high above this valley?

‘What are you doing here? Who do you think you are, cutting out a tomb for yourself high up on a hill, carving out for yourself a place to rest?

17 You [think that you are] [IRO] a great man, but Yahweh is about to hurl you away. [It will be as though] he will seize you,

Watch out, you “great man”! The Lord is about to grab you and violently toss you aside.

18 and roll/crumple you into a ball and throw you away into a large distant land. You will die [and be buried] there, and your beautiful chariots will stay there [in the hands of your enemies]. And [because of what happens to you], your master, [the king], will be [very] ashamed/disgraced.

He's going to roll you up into a ball, and throw you far away into a vast country. You will die there, and that's where the chariots you were so proud of will remain. You're a disgrace to your lord's royal family.

19 Yahweh will force you to quit working in the palace; you will be demoted from your important position.

I will push you out of office, I will strip you of your position.

20 Then I will summon Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who has served serve me [well], to replace you.

After that I will call for my servant, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.

21 I will allow him to wear your robe, and to fasten your sash around him, and I will give to him the authority that you had. He will be like [MET] a father to the people of Jerusalem and [all the other] towns in Judah.

I will put your robe and place your sash around him, and I will give your authority to him. He will be a father to the people living in Jerusalem and Judah.

22 I will give to him authority [MTY] over [what happens in] the palace where King David [lived]; when he decides something [MET], no one will be able to oppose it; when he refuses to do something, no one will be able to force him to do it.

I will give him the key to the house of David. What he opens, nobody can shut; what he shuts, nobody can open.

23 I will cause his family to be greatly respected, because I will put him firmly in his position [as supervisor of the workers in the palace], like [SIM] a nail that is firmly hammered into a wall.

I will drive him like a nail hammered securely into a wall. He will bring honor to his family.

24 Others will enable him to have much responsibility, with the result that all the members of his family, even the most insignificant ones, will be honored.'”

The heavy burden of his father's family will hang on him—all the descendants and the inlaws—all the little containers, bowls and all kinds of jars.

25 [But] the Commander of the armies of angels also says, “[Shebna is like] [MET] a peg that is firmly fastened to the wall. But there will be a time when I will [remove him from his position]; he will lose his power/influence, and everything that he promoted [MET] will fail. [That will surely happen] because [I], Yahweh, have said it.”

So the time will come, declares the Lord Almighty, when the nail will come out of the wall, even though it was hammered in securely. It will break off and fall down, and everything hanging on it will fall down too. The Lord has spoken.