Isaiah 22

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?

THE WORD OF THE VALLEY OF SION. What has happened to you, that now you are all gone up to the housetops which help you not?

2 You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town, your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.

The city is filled with shouting [men]: your slain are not slain with swords, nor are your dead those who have died in battle.

3 All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away.

All your princes have fled, and [your] captives are tightly bound, and the mighty [men] in you have fled far away.

4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labour to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Therefore I said, Let me alone, I will weep bitterly; labour not to comfort me for the breach of the daughter of my people.

5 For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, GOD of Hosts, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.”

For [it is] a day of trouble, and of destruction, and of treading down, and [there is] perplexity [sent] from the Lord of hosts: they wander in the valley of Sion; they wander from the least to the greatest on the mountains.

6 Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.

And the Elamites took [their] quivers, and [there were] men mounted on horses, and [there was] a gathering for battle.

7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.

And it shall be [that] your choice valleys shall be filled with chariots, and horsemen shall block up your gates.

8 He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armour in the house of the forest.

And they shall uncover the gates of Juda, and they shall look in that day on the choice houses of the city.

9 You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

And they shall uncover the secret places of the houses of the citadel of David: and they saw that they were many, and that one [had] turned the water of the old pool into the city;

10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.

and that they [had] pulled down the houses of Jerusalem, to fortify the wall of the city.

11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago.

And you procured to yourselves water between the two walls within the ancient pool: but you looked not to him that made it from the beginning, and regarded not him that created it.

12 In that day, the Lord, GOD of Hosts, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth;

And the Lord, the Lord of hosts, called in that day for weeping, and lamentation, and baldness, and for girding with sackcloth:

13 and behold, there is joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

but they engaged in joy and gladness, slaying calves, and killing sheep, so as to eat flesh, and drink wine; saying, Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.

14 The LORD of Hosts revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, GOD of Hosts.

And these things are revealed in the ears of the Lord of hosts: for this sin shall not be forgiven you, until you die.

15 The Lord, GOD of Hosts says, “Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,

Thus says the Lord of hosts, Go into the chamber, to Somnas the treasurer, and say to him, Why are you here?

16 ‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiselling a habitation for himself in the rock!”

and what have you to do here, that you have here hewn yourself a sepulchre, and made yourself a sepulchre on high, and have graven for yourself a dwelling in the rock?

17 Behold, the LORD will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly.

Behold now, the Lord of hosts casts forth and will utterly destroy [such] a man, and will take away your robe and your glorious crown,

18 He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you disgrace of your lord’s house.

and will cast you into a great and unmeasured land, and there you shall die: and he will bring your fair chariot to shame, and the house of your prince to be trodden down.

19 I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.

And you shall be removed from your stewardship, and from your place.

20 It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Chelcias:

21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

and I will put on him your robe, and I will grant him your crown with power, and I will give your stewardship into his hands: and he shall be as a father to them that dwell in Jerusalem, and to them that dwell in Juda.

22 I will lay the key of David’s house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.

And I will give him the glory of David; and he shall rule, and there shall be none to speak against him: and I will give him the key of the house of David [upon] his shoulder; and he shall open, and there shall be none to shut; and he shall shut, and there shall be none to open.

23 I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house.

And I will make him a ruler in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne of his father's house.

24 They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.

And every one that is glorious in the house of his father shall trust in him, from the least to the greatest; and they shall depend upon him in that day.

25 “In that day,” says the LORD of Hosts, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken it.”

Thus says the Lord of hosts, The man that is fastened in the sure place shall be removed and be taken away, and shall fall; and the glory that is upon him shall be utterly destroyed: for the Lord has spoken it.