Chapter 22

22:1An oracle against the Valley of Vision:
What's the matter with you?
Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?
2The noisy city, the jubilant town,
is filled with revelry.
Your dead did not die by the sword;
they were not killed in battle.
3All your rulers have fled together,
captured without a bow.
All your fugitives were captured together;
they had fled far away.
4Therefore I said,
"Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly!
Do not try to comfort me
about the destruction of my dear people."
5For the Lord God of Hosts
had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion
in the Valley of Vision-
people shouting and crying to the mountains;
6Elam took up a quiver
with chariots and horsemen,
and Kir uncovered the shield.
7Your best valleys were full of chariots,
and horsemen were positioned at the gates.
8He removed the defenses of Judah.
On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. 9You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. You collected water from the lower pool. 10You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. 11You made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider the One who created it long ago.
12On that day the Lord God of Hosts
called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads,
and for the wearing of sackcloth.
13But look: joy and gladness,
butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep,
eating of meat, and drinking of wine-
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"
14The Lord of Hosts has directly revealed to me:
"This sin of yours will never be wiped out."
The Lord God of Hosts has spoken.
15The Lord God of Hosts said: "Go to Shebna, that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: 16What 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? 17Look, you strong man! The Lord is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, 18wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be-a disgrace to the house of your lord. 19I 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. 21I 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. 22I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. 23I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father's house. 24They 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. 25On 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.