Isaiah 22
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
A Pronouncement against Jerusalem
22 A pronouncement(A) concerning the Valley of Vision:(B)
What’s the matter with you?
Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?(C)
2 The noisy city, the jubilant town,(D)
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!(E)
Do not try to comfort me
about the destruction of my dear[a] people.’
5 For the Lord God of Armies
had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion(F)
in the Valley of Vision –
people shouting[b] and crying to the mountains;
6 Elam took up a quiver
with chariots and horsemen,[c]
and Kir(G) uncovered the shield.
7 Your best valleys were full of chariots,
and horsemen were positioned at the city gates.
8 He removed the defences of Judah.
On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.(H) 9 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David.(I) You collected water from the lower pool.(J) 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(K) for the water of the ancient pool,(L) 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,(M) 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! ’(N)
14 The Lord of Armies has directly revealed to me:(O)
‘This iniquity will not be wiped out for you people as long as you live.’[d](P)
The Lord God of Armies has spoken.
A Pronouncement against Shebna
15 The Lord God of Armies said, ‘Go to Shebna,(Q) that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: 16 What are you doing here? Who authorised 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?(R) 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.[e] 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.(S) 21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash round 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.(T) 22 I will place the key(U) of the house of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open.(V) 23 I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honour 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.
Isaiah 22
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem
22 The (A)oracle concerning (B)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, (C)exultant town?
Your slain are (D)not slain with the sword
or dead in battle.
3 (E)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;
(F)let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 (G)For the Lord God of hosts has (H)a day
of tumult and (I)trampling and (J)confusion
in (K)the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
and a shouting to the mountains.
6 And (L)Elam bore the quiver
with chariots and horsemen,
and (M)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 (N)the covering of Judah.
In that day you looked to (O)the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that (P)the breaches of the city of David were many. (Q)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 (R)You made a reservoir between (S)the two walls for the water of (T)the old pool. But (U)you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
12 In that day (V)the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for (W)baldness and (X)wearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
(Y)“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
14 The Lord of hosts (Z)has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely (AA)this iniquity will not be atoned for you (AB)until you die,”
says the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to (AC)Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, (AD)that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you (AE)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. (AF)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 (AG)your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 (AH)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 (AI)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and (AJ)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 (AK)a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place (AL)on his shoulder (AM)the key of the house of David. (AN)He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him (AO)like a peg in a secure place, and he will become (AP)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, (AQ)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.”
Copyright © 2024 by Holman Bible Publishers.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
