An Oracle against Shebna

15 The Lord God of Hosts said: “Go to Shebna,(A) that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: 16 What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a crypt for yourself out of rock?(B) 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.[a] 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.(C) 21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority into his hand, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah.(D) 22 I will place the key(E) of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open.(F) 23 I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s house. 24 They will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: 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 Hosts—“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.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:18 Hb obscure

Oracle regarding Shebna

15 The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this:

“Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna,
    who is over the house:
16 ‘What business do you have[a] here,
    and who do you have[b] here,
that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself,
    carving his grave on the height,
    a dwelling place for him in the rock?
17 Look! Yahweh is about to really hurl[c] you, man!
    And he is about to grasp you firmly;
18         he will wind a winding tightly around you like a ball, to a wide land.[d]
There you shall die,
    and there the chariots of your splendor will be,
        disgrace to your master’s house!
19 And I will push you from your office,
    and he will throw you down from your position.

20 And this shall happen:

On that day I will call to my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
21     and I will clothe him with your tunic,
and I will bind your sash firmly about him,
    and I will put your authority into his hand,
and he shall be like a father to the inhabitants[e] of Jerusalem
    and to the house of Judah.
22 And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder,
    and he shall open and no one will be able to shut;
    and he shall shut and no one will be able to open.
23 And I will drive him in like a peg into a secure place,
    and he will become like a throne of glory to the house of his father.
24 And they will hang all of the heaviness of his father’s house on him,
    the offspring and the offshoot,
all of the small vessels,
    from the bowls to the jars.[f]

25 On that day, declares[g] Yahweh of hosts, the peg that was driven will move away into a secure place, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on her will be cut off. For Yahweh has spoken.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:16 Literally “to you”
  2. Isaiah 22:16 Literally “to you”
  3. Isaiah 22:17 Literally “hurl a hurling”
  4. Isaiah 22:18 Literally “land broad of sides”
  5. Isaiah 22:21 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  6. Isaiah 22:24 Literally “vessels of the bowls to all of the vessels of the jars”
  7. Isaiah 22:25 Literally “declaration of”