Isaiah 22

A Pronouncement against Jerusalem

1 A pronouncement  * 22:1 Is 13:1 concerning the Valley of Vision:  * 22:1 Ps 125:2; Jr 21:13; Jl 3:12,14

What’s the matter with you?

Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?  * 22:1 Is 15:3

2 The noisy city, the jubilant town,  * 22:2 Is 23:7; 32:13

is filled with celebration.

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!  * 22:4 Is 15:3; 33:7; Jr 9:1; Zch 12:10

Do not try to comfort me

about the destruction of my dear  * 22:4 Lit of the daughter of my  people."

5 For the Lord God of Armies

had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion  * 22:5 Is 10:6; 37:3; 63:3

in the Valley of Vision —

people shouting  * 22:5 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,  * 22:6 Lit chariots of man

and Kir  * 22:6 2Kg 16:9; Am 1:5; 9:7 uncovered the shield.

7 Your best valleys were full of chariots,

and horsemen were positioned at the city gates.

8 He removed the defenses of Judah.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.  * 22:8 1Kg 7:2; 10:179 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David.  * 22:9 Lk 2:4 You collected water from the lower pool.  * 22:9 2Kg 20:20; Neh 3:1610 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  * 22:11 2Kg 25:4; Jr 39:4 for the water of the ancient pool,  * 22:11 2Kg 20:20; 2Ch 32:3–4 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 Armies

called for weeping,  * 22:12 Is 32:11; Jl 1:13; 2:17 for wailing, for shaven heads,

and for the wearing of sackcloth.

13 But look: joy and gladness,

butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep and goats,

eating of meat, and drinking of wine —

"Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! "  * 22:13 Is 56:12; 1Co 15:32

14 The Lord of Armies has directly revealed to me:  * 22:14 Is 5:9

"This iniquity will not be wiped out for you people as long as you live."  * 22:14 Lit for you until you die,* 22:14 1Sm 3:14; Ezk 24:13

The Lord God of Armies has spoken.

A Pronouncement against Shebna

15 The Lord God of Armies said, "Go to Shebna,  * 22:15 2Kg 18:18,26,37; Is 36:3,11,22; 37:2 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 resting place for yourself out of rock?  * 22:16 2Sm 18:18; 2Ch 16:14; Mt 27:6017 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.  * 22:17–18 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.  * 22:20 2Kg 18:18; Is 36:3,22; 37:221 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.  * 22:21 Gn 45:8; Jb 29:1622 I will place the key  * 22:22 Mt 16:19; Rv 3:7 of the house of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open.  * 22:22 Jb 12:1423 I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s family. 24 They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s family: 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 Armies — "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.