Isaiah 22 — Legacy Standard Bible

An Oracle Concerning the Valley of Vision

22The ¹oracle concerning the ^avalley of vision. What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the ^bhousetops?

²You who were full of noise,You roaring city, you ^aexultant town;Your slain were ^bnot slain with the sword,Nor ¹did they die in battle.³^aAll your rulers have fled together,And have been captured ¹without the bow;All of you who were found were captured together,²Though they had fled far away.⁴Therefore I say, “Turn your gaze away from me,Let me ^aweep bitterly,Do not insist on comforting me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”⁵^aFor Lord Yahweh of hosts has a ^bday of confusion, ^coppression, and panic^dIn the valley of vision,A breaking down of wallsAnd a crying ¹to the mountain.⁶^aNow Elam took up the quiverWith the chariots, ¹infantry, and horsemen;And ^bKir uncovered the shield.⁷Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.⁸And He revealed the ¹defense of Judah.In that day you looked to the weapons of the ^ahouse of the forest,⁹And you saw that the breachesIn the wall of the city of David were many;And you ^acollected the waters of the lower pool.¹⁰Then you counted the houses of JerusalemAnd tore down houses to fortify the wall.¹¹And you made a reservoir ^abetween the two wallsFor the waters of the ^bold pool.But you did not look to Him who made it,Nor did you see Him who formed it long ago.¹²Therefore in that day Lord Yahweh of hosts called you to ^aweeping, to wailing,To ^bshaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.¹³Instead, behold, there is ^ajoy and gladness,Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,Eating of meat and drinking of wine:“^bLet us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”¹⁴But Yahweh of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,“Surely this ^ainiquity ^bshall not be atoned for you^cUntil you die,” says Lord Yahweh of hosts.

¹⁵Thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “Come, go to this steward,To ^aShebna, who is in charge of the royal household,

¹⁶‘What right do you have here,And whom do you have here,That you have ^ahewn a tomb for yourself here,You who hew a tomb on the height,You who carve a dwelling place for ¹yourself in the cliff?¹⁷‘Behold, Yahweh is about to hurl you headlong, O man.And He is about to grasp you firmly¹⁸And He will surely roll you tightly like a ball,To be ^acast into a vast country;There you will die,And there your glorious chariots will be,You disgrace of your master’s house.’¹⁹“I will ^apush you out of your office,And ¹I will pull you down from your station.²⁰“Then it will be in that day,That I will summon My servant ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah,²¹And I will clothe him with your tunicAnd tie your sash securely about him.I will give your ¹authority into his hand,And he will become a ^afather to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.²²“Then I will set ^athe key of the ^bhouse of David on his shoulder,When he opens no one will shut,When he shuts no one will ^copen.²³“I will drive him like a ^apeg in a firm place,And he will become a ^bthrone of glory to his father’s house.

²⁴“So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and ¹issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. ²⁵“In that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “the ^apeg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even ^bbreak off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for ^cYahweh has spoken.”