Isaiah 22

New American Standard Bible

The Valley of Vision

22 The pronouncement concerning the ^(A)valley of vision:

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the ^(B)housetops?
²You who were full of noise,
You tumultuous town, you ^(C)jubilant city;
Your dead were ^(D)not killed with the sword,
Nor ^[a]did they die in battle.
³^(E)All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured ^[b]without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
^[c]Though they had fled far away.
⁴Therefore I say, “Look away from me,
Let me ^(F)weep bitterly,
Do not ^[d]try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
⁵^(G)For the Lord ^[e]God of armies has a ^(H)day of panic, ^(I)subjugation, and confusion
^(J)In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying ^[f]to the mountain.
⁶^(K)Elam picked up the quiver,
With the chariots, ^[g]infantry, and horsemen;
And ^(L)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took positions at the gate.
⁸And He removed the ^[h]defense of Judah.
On that day you ^[i]depended on the weapons of the ^(M)house of the forest,
⁹And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you ^(N)collected the waters of the lower pool.
¹⁰Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
¹¹And you made a reservoir ^(O)between the two walls
For the waters of the ^(P)old pool.
But you did not ^[j]depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you ^[k]take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

¹²Therefore on that day the Lord ^[l]God of armies called you to ^(Q)weeping, to wailing,
To ^(R)shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
¹³Instead, there is ^(S)joy and jubilation,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
“^(T)Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
¹⁴But the Lord of armies revealed Himself ^[m]to me:
“Certainly this ^(U)wrongdoing ^(V)will not be ^[n]forgiven you
^(W)Until you die,” says the Lord ^[o]God of armies.

¹⁵This is what the Lord ^[p]God of armies says:

“Come, go to this steward,
To ^(X)Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,
¹⁶‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have ^(Y)cut out a tomb for yourself here,
You who cut out a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for ^[q]yourself in the rock?
¹⁷Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you violently, you strong man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
¹⁸And wrap you up tightly like a ball,
To be ^(Z)driven into a vast country;
There you will die,
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house!’
¹⁹I will ^(AA)depose you from your office,
And ^[r]I will pull you down from your position.
²⁰Then it will come about on that day,
That I will summon My servant ^(AB)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
²¹And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will hand your ^[s]authority over to him,
And he will become a ^(AC)father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
²²Then I will put ^(AD)the key of the ^(AE)house of David on his shoulder;
When he opens, no one will shut,
When he shuts, no one will ^(AF)open.
²³I will drive him like a ^(AG)peg in a firm place,
And he will become a ^(AH)throne of glory to his father’s house.

²⁴So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the ^[t]descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. ²⁵On that day,” declares the Lord of armies, “the ^(AI)peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even ^(AJ)break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the ^(AK)Lord has spoken.”