22
The Valley of Vision
1 The
1oracle concerning the
Avalley of vision.
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the
Bhousetops?
2 You who were full of noise,
You boisterous town, you
Aexultant city;
Your slain were
Bnot slain with the sword,
Nor
1did they die in battle.
3 AAll your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured
1without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
2Though they had fled far away.
4 Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me,
Do not
1try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 AFor the Lord
1Goᴅ of hosts has a
Bday of panic,
Csubjugation and confusion
DIn the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying
2to the mountain.
6 AElam took up the quiver
With the chariots,
1infantry
and horsemen;
And
BKir uncovered the shield.
7 Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
8 And He removed the
1defense of Judah.
In that day you
2depended on the weapons of the
Ahouse of the forest,
9 And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you
Acollected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir
Abetween the two walls
For the waters of the
Bold pool.
But you did not
1depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you
2take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
12 Therefore in that day the Lord
1Goᴅ of hosts called
you to
Aweeping, to wailing,
To
Bshaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, there is
Agaiety and gladness,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
“
BLet us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14 But the Loʀᴅ of hosts revealed Himself
1to me,
“Surely this
Ainiquity
Bshall not be
2forgiven you
CUntil you die,” says the Lord
3Goᴅ of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord
1Goᴅ of hosts,
“Come, go to this steward,
To
AShebna, who is in charge of the
royal household,
16 ‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have
Ahewn a tomb for yourself here,
You who hew a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for
1yourself in the rock?
17 ‘Behold, the Loʀᴅ is about to hurl you headlong, O man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18 And roll you tightly like a ball,
To be Acast into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
19 “I will
Adepose you from your office,
And
1I will pull you down from your station.
20 “Then it will come about in that day,
That I will summon My servant
AEliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21 And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely about him.
I will entrust him with your
1authority,
And he will become a
Afather to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 “Then I will set
Athe key of the
Bhouse of David on his shoulder,
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will
Copen.
23 “I will drive him
like a
Apeg in a firm place,
And he will become a
Bthrone of glory to his father’s house.
24 “So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and
1issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars.
25 “In that day,” declares the Loʀᴅ of hosts, “the
Apeg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even
Bbreak off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the
CLoʀᴅ has spoken.”