The Lord Rebukes Shebna

¹⁵ This is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies^[a] says:

“Come, go to this steward, to Shebna who is in charge of the household, and ask him: ¹⁶ ‘What are you doing here, and who are your relatives here^[b] that you could carve out a grave for yourself here—cutting out a tomb at the choicest location,^[c] chiseling out a resting place for yourself out of solid rock? ¹⁷ Look Out! The Lord is about to hurl you away violently, my strong fellow! He^[d] will fold you up completely, ¹⁸ rolling you up tightly like a ball and throwing you into a large country. There^[e] you will die, and there^[f] your splendid chariots will lie. You’re a disgrace to your master’s house! ¹⁹ I will depose you from your office, ousting you^[g] from your position.

²⁰ “At that time,^[h] I’ll call for my servant, Hilkiah’s^[i] son Eliakim, ²¹ and I’ll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I’ll transfer your authority to him,^[j] and he’ll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

²² “I’ll place on his shoulder the key to the house of David—what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open. ²³ I’ll set him like a peg into a secure place; he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. ²⁴ The entire reputation of his father’s house will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its smaller vessels, from the cups to all the jars. ²⁵ At that time,”^[k] declares the Lord^[l] of the Heavenly Armies, “the peg that was driven into a secure place will give way; it will be sheared and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.”

The Lord has spoken.