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)
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.
All your rulers have fled together,
captured without a bow.
All your fugitives were captured together;
they had fled far away.
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.”
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;
Elam took up a quiver
with chariots and horsemen,[c]
and Kir(G) uncovered the shield.
Your best valleys were full of chariots,
and horsemen were positioned at the city gates.
He removed the defenses of Judah.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.(H) 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.

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Footnotes

  1. 22:4 Lit of the daughter of my
  2. 22:5 Or Vision—a tearing down of a wall, or Vision—Kir raged; Hb obscure
  3. 22:6 Lit chariots of man
  4. 22:14 Lit for you until you die

Oracle against Jerusalem

22 The oracle of the valley of vision:

What business do you have going[a] up, all of you, to the roofs,

noisy,[b] tumultuous city,
    exultant town?
Your slain are not slain by the sword,
    nor are they dead from battle.
All of your rulers have fled together without a bow;
    all of you who were found[c] were captured.
They were captured together;
    they had fled far away.

Therefore I said,

“Look away from me,
    let me weep bitterly;[d]
you must not insist on comforting me
    for the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion[e] in the valley of vision,
    a tearing down of walls[f] and a cry for help to the mountains.[g]
And Elam lifted up the quiver,
        with chariots[h] of men[i] and cavalry.
    And Kir uncovered the shield.

And this happened:

the choicest of your valleys were full of chariots,[j]
    and the cavalry confidently stood at the gate.
        And he uncovered the covering of Judah.
And you looked, on that day, to the weapons[k] of the House of the Forest,
    and you saw that the breaches in the walls of the city of David were many,
        and you gathered 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         And you made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the old pool,
but you did not look to its maker,
    and you did not see the one who created it long ago.[l]

12 And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day

for weeping and mourning,
    and for baldness and girding with[m] sackcloth.
13 But look! Joy and gladness,
    the killing of oxen[n] and the slaughtering of sheep,
the eating of meat and the drinking of wine!
    “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

14 And it was revealed in my ears by Yahweh of hosts:

“Surely this sin will not be atoned for you until you die!”
    says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:1 Literally “What to you then that you have gone”
  2. Isaiah 22:2 Literally “full of noises”
  3. Isaiah 22:3 Literally “your found ones”
  4. Isaiah 22:4 Literally “be bitter in weeping”
  5. Isaiah 22:5 These three Hebrew words are alliterative: mehûmâûmeḇûsâûmeḇûḵâ
  6. Isaiah 22:5 Hebrew “wall”
  7. Isaiah 22:5 Hebrew “mountain”
  8. Isaiah 22:6 Hebrew “chariot”
  9. Isaiah 22:6 Hebrew “man”
  10. Isaiah 22:7 Hebrew “chariot”
  11. Isaiah 22:8 Hebrew “weapon”
  12. Isaiah 22:11 Literally “its creator from far away”
  13. Isaiah 22:12 Literally “of”
  14. Isaiah 22:13 Hebrew “ox”