Tell me what is wrong with you,
that you have all gone up on the roofs.
² You city full of noise, confusion
and boisterous excitement,
your slain did not fall to the sword,
nor did they die in battle.
³ All your leaders fled together
and were captured without the use of a bow;
all from you who were found were captured,
even though they had fled far away.
⁴ This is why I said, “Don’t look at me,
leave me alone to weep bitterly,
don’t try to comfort me
over the destruction of my people.”
⁵ For it is a day of panic,
trampling and confusion
from Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
in the Valley of Vision.
With walls crashing down,
they cry for help to the mountains.
⁶ ‘Eilam picks up the quivers,
with cavalry and horsemen,
and Kir uncovers the shields.
⁷ In time, your choicest valleys
are overrun by chariots,
and the cavalry take their posts by the gate;
⁸ thus is Y’hudah’s protection removed.

That day you looked for the armor
in the House of the Forest.
⁹ You saw how many breaches there were
in the City of David,
you collected water from the lower pool,
¹⁰ you surveyed the houses in Yerushalayim,
tearing some down to fortify the wall.
¹¹ You also built a reservoir between the two walls
for the water from the Old Pool;
but you didn’t look to Him who made these things;
you had no respect for Him who fashioned them long ago.

¹² That day Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
called on you to weep and mourn,
to shave your heads and wear sackcloth;
¹³ but instead, one sees joy and celebrating,
killing of oxen, slaughtering of sheep,
eating of meat, drinking of wine —
“Let’s eat and drink now,
because tomorrow we’ll be dead!”

¹⁴ Then Adonai-Tzva’ot revealed himself in my ears: “You will not atone for this iniquity until you die.” This is what Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot says.

¹⁶ ‘What do you own here,
and who gave you the right
to cut yourself a tomb here?
Why do you get such an eminent tomb?
Why are you carving a resting-place
for yourself in the rock?’”

¹⁷ Look, strong man! Adonai is about
to throw you out! He will grab you,
¹⁸ roll you up, and toss you around
like a ball in the open country.
There you will die, with your fancy chariots,
you disgrace to your master’s palace!

¹⁹ “I will remove you from your office,
I will snatch you from your post.
²⁰ When that day comes, I will summon
my servant Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu.
²¹ I will dress him in your robe,
gird him with your sash of office,
and invest him with your authority.
He will be a father to the people
living in Yerushalayim
and to the house of Y’hudah.
²² I will place the key of David’s house
on his shoulder;
no one will shut what he opens;
no one will open what he shuts.