Isaiah
22
1 An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision. 1 What ails you now,
1 that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2 you with your hustle and bustle
2 a tumultuous city, a wanton town?
2 Your slain men
2 have not been killed by the sword,
2 nor have they died in battle.
3 Together your leaders have fled;
3 they were captured under the threat of the bow.
3 Your valiant were caught together,
3 they had fled far away.
5 There comes from the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth a day of trampling and rout.
5 In the Valley of Vision they undermine the walls
5 and the cries for help ascend to the mountains.
6 Elam bears the quiver
6 with charioteers and horsemen;
6 Kir uncovers the shield.
7 Chariots are all over your choicest valleys;
7 horsemen are stationed at the gates.
Let us eat and drink!
8 On that day you turned your eyes to the arsenal at the Palace of the Forest. 9 You saw the many breaches in the defenses of the city of David. You gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 You counted the houses of Jeru salem and tore down some of them to strengthen the wall. 11 You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old Pool.
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old Pool. 11 But you gave no thought to its Ma ker. You had no regard for him who had planned it long ago. 12 On that day the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth called you to weep and mourn, to shave your head and put on sackcloth. 13 But look, instead of that, there is wanton revelry: oxen are butch ered and sheep are slaughtered. You eat meat and get drunk, saying, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” 14 A word from Yahweh Sabaoth has reached my ears: “This sin will not be forgiven until they die.”
Against a minister
15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh Saba oth: Go and talk to this man Shebna, who is the palace steward. Ask him:
16 Who are you and what right have you
16 to carve a resting place on the heights,
16 to cut out a burial place
16 for yourself here in the rock?
17 Look here, O you strongman,
17 Yahweh will seize you;
17 he will take you captive
17 and take firm hold of you.
19 You will be deposed, strongman.
19 I will hurl you down from where you are.
20 On that day I will summon
20 my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.
21 I will clothe him with your robe,
21 I will strengthen him with your girdle,
21 I will give him your authority,
21 and he will be a father
21 to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
21 and to the people of Judah.
23 I will fasten him like a peg
23 in a sure spot,
23 and he will be a seat of honor
23 in the house of his father.
24 (Upon him will hang all the load of his father’s house – offspring and descendants, all the little vessels from bowls to jars. 25 On that day, says Yahweh Sabaoth, the peg fastened in a sure spot will give way; it will be cut down and the load hanging on it will fall. Thus Yahweh has spoken.)