Isaiah 22:1-14
Expanded Bible
God’s Message to Jerusalem
22 This is a ·message [prophecy; oracle; burden] about the Valley of Vision [C perhaps the Hinnom Valley near Jerusalem; the prophecy concerns Jerusalem]:
·What is wrong with you people [or What is the reason; L What to you, then]?
Why are you on your roofs [C roofs were flat and used for living and storage space]?
2 This city was ·a very busy city [L full of noise],
·full of noise and wild parties [town of tumult and revelry].
Now your people have been ·killed [slain],
but not with swords,
nor did they die in battle.
3 All your leaders ·ran away [fled] together,
but they have been captured without using a bow.
All you who were captured
tried to run ·away before the enemy came [or far away; or while the enemy was far away].
4 So I say, “Don’t look at me.
Let me ·cry loudly [weep bitterly].
Don’t hurry to ·comfort [console] me
about the destruction of ·Jerusalem [or my vulnerable people; L the daughter of my people].”
5 The Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] has ·chosen a special day [L a day]
of ·riots [tumult] and confusion.
·People will trample each other […and trampling] in the Valley of Vision.
The city walls will be knocked down,
and the people will cry out to the mountain.
6 ·The soldiers from Elam [L Elam] will ·gather their arrows [L pick up its quiver]
and their chariots and men on horses.
Kir will ·prepare [L uncover] their shields.
7 Your ·nicest [choicest; fairest] valleys will be filled with chariots.
Horsemen ·will be ordered to guard [take their positions at] the gates of the city.
8 ·The walls protecting Judah will fall [L He removed defenses/covering from Judah; C “He” could be the Lord or the invading army].
·At that time [L In that day] the people of Jerusalem ·depended on [looked to]
the weapons kept at the ·Palace [L house] of the Forest [C probably the royal armory; 1 Kin. 7:2–5; 10:16–17].
9 You saw that the walls of Jerusalem
had many ·cracks that needed repairing [breaches; breaks].
You stored up water in the lower pool [C preparation for a siege].
10 You ·counted [surveyed] the houses of Jerusalem,
and you tore down houses to ·repair the walls with their stones [L strengthen/fortify the wall].
11 You made a ·pool [reservoir] between the two walls
to save water from the old pool,
but you did not ·trust [look to] the ·God who made these things [L one who made it; C the “it” could be the pool, the wall or the whole city of Jerusalem];
you did not ·respect [consider; have regard for] the One who ·planned [or fashioned; formed] ·them [it] long ago.
12 ·At that time [L In that day] the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] ·told the people
to cry and be sad [L called for weeping and mourning],
·to shave their heads [L for baldness] and ·wear rough cloth [for wearing burlap/sackcloth; C signs of sorrow and repentance].
13 But look, ·the people are happy
and are having wild parties [L joy and revelry].
They slaughter cattle and kill sheep;
they eat ·the food [meat; flesh] and drink the wine.
They say, “Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we will die.”
14 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] said to me: “You people will die before this ·guilt is forgiven [sin is atoned for].” The Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] said this.
Read full chapter
Isaiah 22:1-14
Amplified Bible
The Valley of Vision
22 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([a]a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision:
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2
You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
3
All your leaders have fled together [with your king],
And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.
4
Therefore I say, “Look away from me;
Let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5
For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion
In the Valley of Vision,
A [day of] breaking down walls
And a crying [for help] to the mountain.
6
Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.
7
And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].(A)
8
Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah;
And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon’s armory).(B)
9
You saw that the breaches
In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many;
You collected [within the city’s walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).
10
Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].
11
You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the [b]Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.
12
Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
13
Instead, there is joy and jubilation,
Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine, saying,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14
But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 22:1 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
- Isaiah 22:11 Perhaps a reference to the Gihon Spring, also called the Upper Pool.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
