Isaiah 22

1 “The message concerning the Valley of Zion. What has happened to you, that all of you have gone up to the housetops?”

2 “In vain? The city is full of shouting. Your wounded were not wounded by swords, and your dead did not die in battle.”

3 “All your rulers fled, your captives are tightly bound, and the strong among you fled far away.”

4 “So I said, ‘Leave me alone. I will weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of my people’s daughter.’”

5 “It is a day of trouble, destruction, trampling, and confusion sent by the Lord of armies. They wander through the Valley of Zion and over the mountains, from the least to the greatest.”

6 “The Elamites took their quivers, mounted men rode on horses, and an army gathered for battle.”

7 “Your choice valleys will fill with chariots, and horsemen will block your gates.”

8 “They will expose Judah’s gates and look on that day at the city’s finest houses.”

9 “They will uncover the hidden rooms in David’s citadel. They saw how many there were and how they had diverted water from the old pool into the city.”

10 “They had torn down Jerusalem’s houses to fortify the city wall.”

11 “You collected water between the two walls inside the ancient pool, but you did not look to the one who made it from the beginning or consider the one who created it.”

12 “On that day the Lord of armies called for weeping, lamentation, baldness, and wearing sackcloth.”

13 “Instead there was joy and celebration, slaughtering calves and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: ‘Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we die.’”

14 These things have been revealed in the ears of the Lord of armies:

“This sin will not be pardoned until you die.”

15 This is what the Lord of armies says:

“Go into the chamber to Shebna the treasurer and say to him:”

16 “Why are you here, and what do you have here, that you cut yourself a tomb here, made yourself a tomb on the height, and carved yourself a tent in the rock?”

17 “Look, the Lord of armies will throw out and utterly destroy such a person and take away your robe,”

18 “Your splendid crown. He will throw you into a vast, unmeasured land where you will die, bring your fine chariot to shame, and trample your ruler’s house.”

19 “‘You will be removed from your stewardship and your position.’”

20 “‘On that day I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.’”

21 “‘I will clothe him with your robe, give him your crown and authority, and place your stewardship in his hands. He will be like a father to those living in Jerusalem and Judah.’”

22 “‘I will give him David’s glory. He will rule, and no one will speak against him.’”

23 “‘I will establish him as a ruler in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne for his father’s house.’”

24 “Everyone honored in his father’s house, from the least to the greatest, will trust him and depend on him.”

25 On that day, this is what the Lord of armies says:

“The man fastened in the secure place will be moved and fall, and the glory resting on him will be removed, because the Lord has spoken.”