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A Message for Shebna

15 This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message:

16 “Who do you think you are,
    and what are you doing here,
building a beautiful tomb for yourself—
    a monument high up in the rock?
17 For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man.
    He is going to grab you,
18 crumple you into a ball,
    and toss you away into a distant, barren land.
There you will die,
    and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless.
    You are a disgrace to your master!

19 “Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position. 20 And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. 21 I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. 22 I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. 23 He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. 24 They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.[a]

25 But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

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Footnotes

  1. 22:24 Hebrew They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: its offspring and offshoots, all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to (A)Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, (B)that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you (C)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. (D)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 (E)your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 (F)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 (G)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and (H)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 (I)a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place (J)on his shoulder (K)the key of the house of David. (L)He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him (M)like a peg in a secure place, and he will become (N)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, (O)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.”

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