Isa 22 | HCSB | STEP | An oracle against the Valley of Vision : What’s the matter with you? Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops ?

Isaiah 22

An Oracle against Jerusalem

1 An ^{▼▼oracle: A prophetic speech of a threatening or menacing character, often against the nations}oracle ^b against the Valley of Vision: ^c

What’s the matter with you?
Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops? ^d
2 The noisy city, the jubilant town, ^e
is filled with revelry.
Your dead did not die by the sword;
they were not killed in battle.
3 All your rulers have fled together,
captured without a bow.
All your fugitives were captured together;
they had fled far away.
4 Therefore I said,
“Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly! ^f
Do not try to comfort me
about the destruction of my dear ^{▼▼Lit of the daughter of my} people.”
5 For the Lord God of ^{▼▼Hosts/hosts: Military forces consisting of God's angels, sometimes including the sun, moon, and stars, and occasionally, Israel}Hosts
had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion ⁱ
in the Valley of Vision –
people shouting ^{▼▼Or Vision – a tearing down of a wall, or Vision – Kir raged; Hb obscure} and crying to the mountains;
6 Elam took up a quiver
with chariots and horsemen, ^{▼▼Lit chariots of man}
and Kir ^l uncovered the shield.
7 Your best valleys were full of chariots,
and horsemen were positioned at the gates.
8 He removed the defenses of Judah.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. ^m 9 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. ⁿ You collected water from the lower pool. ^o 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the walls ^p for the waters of the ancient pool, ^q but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider the One who created it long ago.

12 On that day the Lord God of Hosts
called for weeping, ^r for wailing, for shaven heads,
and for the wearing of ^{▼▼sackcloth: Garment made of poor quality material and worn as a sign of grief and mourning}sackcloth.
13 But look: joy and gladness,
butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep,
eating of meat, and drinking of wine –
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ^t
14 The Lord of Hosts has directly revealed to me: ^u
“This sin of yours will never ^{▼▼Lit will not until you die} be wiped out.” ^w
The Lord God of Hosts has spoken.

An Oracle against Shebna

15 The Lord God of Hosts said: “Go to Shebna, ^x that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: 16 What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a crypt for yourself out of rock? ^y 17 Look, you strong man! The Lord is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, 18 wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. ^{▼▼Hb obscure} There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be – a disgrace to the house of your lord. 19 I will remove you from your office; you will be ousted from your position.

20 “On that day I will call for my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ^aa 21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority into his hand, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. ^ab 22 I will place the key ^ac of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. ^ad 23 I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s house. 24 They will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots – all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. 25 On that day” – the declaration of the Lord of Hosts – “the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.” Indeed, the Lord has spoken.