Jesaja 22 | New International Reader’s Version

A prophecy against Jerusalem

1 Here is a prophecy against Jerusalem that the LORD gave me. Jerusalem is also known as the Valley of Vision. People of Jerusalem, what’s the matter with you? Why have all of you gone up on the roofs of your houses? 2 Why is your town so full of noise? Why is your city so full of the sound of wild parties? Those among you who died weren’t killed by swords. They didn’t die in battle. 3 All your leaders have run away. They’ve been captured without a single arrow being shot. All you who were caught were taken away as prisoners. You ran off while your enemies were still far away. 4 So I said, ‘Leave me alone. Let me weep bitter tears. Don’t try to comfort me. My people have been destroyed.’ 5 The LORD who rules over all sent the noise of battle against you. The Lord brought disorder and terror to the Valley of Vision. The walls of the city were knocked down. Cries for help were heard in the mountains. 6 Soldiers from Elam came armed with bows and arrows. They came with their chariots and horses. Soldiers from Kir got their shields ready. 7 Your rich valleys filled up with chariots. Horsemen took up their battle positions at your city gates. 8 The Lord made Judah a place where it wasn’t safe to live anymore. At that time, you depended on the weapons in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. 9 You saw that the walls of the City of David were broken through in many places. You stored up water in the Lower Pool. 10 You picked out the weaker buildings in Jerusalem. You tore them down and used their stones to strengthen the city walls against attack. 11 You built a pool between the two walls. You used it to save the water that was running down from the Old Pool. But you didn’t look to the God who made it all possible. You didn’t pay any attention to the God who planned everything long ago. 12 The LORD who rules over all called out to you at that time. The Lord told you to weep and cry. He told you to tear your hair out. And he told you to put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. 13 Instead, you are enjoying yourselves at wild parties! You are killing cattle and sheep. You are eating their meat and drinking wine. You are saying, ‘Let’s eat and drink, because tomorrow we’ll die.’ 14 I heard the LORD who rules over all speaking. ‘Your sin can never be paid for as long as you live,’ says the Lord. 15 The LORD who rules over all speaks. The Lord says, ‘Go and speak to Shebna, the head servant. He is in charge of the palace. Tell him, 16 “What are you doing here outside the city? Who allowed you to cut out a tomb for yourself here? Who said you could carve out your grave on the hillside? Who allowed you to cut out your resting place in the rock? 17 ‘ “Watch out, you mighty man! The LORD is about to grab you. He is about to throw you away. 18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball. He will throw you into a very large country. There you will die. And that’s where the chariots you were so proud of will be. Those chariots will then bring nothing but shame on your master’s family! 19 The LORD will remove you from your job. You will be brought down from your high position. 20 ‘ “At that time he will send for his servant Eliakim. He is the son of Hilkiah. 21 The LORD will put your robe on Eliakim. He will tie your belt around him. He will hand your authority over to him. Eliakim will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. 22 The LORD will give Eliakim the key of authority in David’s royal house. No one can shut what he opens. And no one can open what he shuts. 23 The LORD will set him firmly in place like a peg driven into a wall. He will hold a position of honour in his family. 24 The good name of his whole family will depend on him. They will be like bowls and jars hanging on a peg. 25 ‘ “But a new day is coming,” ’ announces the LORD who rules over all. ‘ “At that time the peg that was driven into the wall will give way. It will break off and fall down. And the heavy load hanging on it will also fall.” ’ The LORD has spoken.

English Standard Version

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

1 The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops, 2 you who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain with the sword or dead in battle. 3 All your leaders have fled together; without the bow they were captured. All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away. 4 Therefore I said: “Look away from me; let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.” 5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains. 6 And Elam bore the quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. 8 He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago. 12 In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth; 13 and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 14 The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts. 15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

Jesaja 22 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

A prophecy against Jerusalem

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem