Isaiah 22

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

22 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops?

²Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle.

³All the princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off.

⁴Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people.

⁵For it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain.

⁶And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall.

⁷And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horseman shall place themselves in the gate.

⁸And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest.

⁹And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower pool,

¹⁰And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify the wall.

¹¹And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago.

¹²And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

¹³And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

¹⁴And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁵Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him:

¹⁶What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock.

¹⁷Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment.

¹⁸He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord.

¹⁹And I will drive thee out From thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry.

²⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias,

²¹And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda.

²²And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.

²³And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father.

²⁴And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music.

²⁵In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it.

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)
²you 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.
³All 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.
⁴Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep^(K) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”^(L)

⁵The 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.
⁶Elam^(R) takes up the quiver,^(S)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir^(T) uncovers the shield.
⁷Your choicest valleys^(U) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^(V)

⁸The 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)
⁹You 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)
¹⁰You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses^(AB) to strengthen the wall.^(AC)
¹¹You 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.

¹²The 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)
¹³But 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)

¹⁴The 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.

¹⁵This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna^(AQ) the palace^(AR) administrator:^(AS)
¹⁶What 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.
¹⁸He 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.
¹⁹I 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. ²¹I 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. ²²I 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) ²³I 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. ²⁴All 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)