An Oracle Concerning the Valley of Vision
The oracle concerning the avalley of vision.
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the bhousetops?
2 You who were full of noise,
You roaring city, you aexultant town;
Your slain were bnot slain with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
3 aAll your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured without the bow;
All of you who were found were captured together,
Though they had fled far away.
4 Therefore 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 walls
And a crying to the mountain.
6 aNow Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry, and horsemen;
And bKir uncovered the shield.
7 Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
8 And He revealed the defense of Judah.
In that day you looked to the weapons of the ahouse of the forest,
9 And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you acollected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir abetween the two walls
For 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.
12 Therefore in that day Lord Yahweh of hosts called you to aweeping, to wailing,
To bshaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, 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.”
14 But 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.
15 Thus 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 yourself in the cliff?
17 Behold, Yahweh is about to hurl you headlong, O man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18 And 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 I 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,
21 And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely about him.
I will give your authority 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 issue, 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.”