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Isaiah 22
New Living Translation
Isaiah 22
New Living Translation
A Message about Jerusalem
22 This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision[a]:
What is happening?
Why is everyone running to the rooftops?
2 The whole city is in a terrible uproar.
What do I see in this reveling city?
Bodies are lying everywhere,
killed not in battle but by famine and disease.
3 All your leaders have fled.
They surrendered without resistance.
The people tried to slip away,
but they were captured, too.
4 That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep;
do not try to comfort me.
Let me cry for my people
as I watch them being destroyed.”
5 Oh, what a day of crushing defeat!
What a day of confusion and terror
brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
upon the Valley of Vision!
The walls of Jerusalem have been broken,
and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.
6 Elamites are the archers,
with their chariots and charioteers.
The men of Kir hold up the shields.
7 Chariots fill your beautiful valleys,
and charioteers storm your gates.
8 Judah’s defenses have been stripped away.
You run to the armory[b] for your weapons.
9 You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem.[c]
You store up water in the lower pool.
10 You survey the houses and tear some down
for stone to strengthen the walls.
11 Between the city walls, you build a reservoir
for water from the old pool.
But you never ask for help from the One who did all this.
You never considered the One who planned this long ago.
12 At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
called you to weep and mourn.
He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins
and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
13 But instead, you dance and play;
you slaughter cattle and kill sheep.
You feast on meat and drink wine.
You say, “Let’s feast and drink,
for tomorrow we die!”
14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
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.[d]”
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!”
Footnotes
- 22:1 Hebrew concerning the Valley of Vision.
- 22:8 Hebrew to the House of the Forest; see 1 Kgs 7:2-5.
- 22:9 Hebrew the city of David.
- 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.
Isaiah 22
New International Version
Isaiah 22
New International Version
A Prophecy About Jerusalem
22 A prophecy(A) against the Valley(B) of Vision:(C)
What troubles you now,
that you have all gone up on the roofs,(D)
2 you town so full of commotion,
you city of tumult(E) and revelry?(F)
Your slain(G) were not killed by the sword,(H)
nor did they die in battle.
3 All your leaders have fled(I) together;
they have been captured(J) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
having fled while the enemy was still far away.
4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
let me weep(K) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
over the destruction of my people.”(L)
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day(M)
of tumult and trampling(N) and terror(O)
in the Valley of Vision,(P)
a day of battering down walls(Q)
and of crying out to the mountains.
6 Elam(R) takes up the quiver,(S)
with her charioteers and horses;
Kir(T) uncovers the shield.
7 Your choicest valleys(U) are full of chariots,
and horsemen are posted at the city gates.(V)
8 The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
and you looked in that day(W)
to the weapons(X) in the Palace of the Forest.(Y)
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
were broken through(Z) in many places;
you stored up water
in the Lower Pool.(AA)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
and tore down houses(AB) to strengthen the wall.(AC)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(AD)
for the water of the Old Pool,(AE)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
or have regard(AF) for the One who planned(AG) it long ago.
12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
called you on that day(AH)
to weep(AI) and to wail,
to tear out your hair(AJ) and put on sackcloth.(AK)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(AL)
slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
eating of meat and drinking of wine!(AM)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
“for tomorrow we die!”(AN)
14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(AO) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(AP) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
“Go, say to this steward,
to Shebna(AQ) the palace(AR) administrator:(AS)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
to cut out a grave(AT) for yourself(AU) here,
hewing your grave on the height
and chiseling your resting place in the rock?
17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
and hurl(AV) you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
and throw(AW) you into a large country.
There you will die
and there the chariots(AX) you were so proud of
will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
and you will be ousted(AY) from your position.(AZ)
20 “In that day(BA) I will summon my servant,(BB) Eliakim(BC) son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash(BD) around him and hand your authority(BE) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder(BF) the key(BG) to the house of David;(BH) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(BI) 23 I will drive him like a peg(BJ) into a firm place;(BK) he will become a seat[a] of honor(BL) for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
25 “In that day,(BM)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg(BN) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.(BO)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 22:23 Or throne
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.