An Oracle Concerning the Valley of Vision

1The [†]oracle concerning the valley of vision.

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?

2You who were full of noise,

You roaring city, you exultant town;

Your slain were not slain with the sword,

Nor [†]did they die in battle.

3All 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.

4Therefore I say, “Turn your gaze away from me,

Let me weep bitterly,

Do not insist on comforting me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

5For Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of confusion, oppression, and panic

In the valley of vision,

A breaking down of walls

And a crying [†]to the mountain.

6Now Elam took up the quiver

With the chariots, [†]infantry, and horsemen;

And Kir 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 [†]defense of Judah.

In that day you looked to the weapons of the house of the forest,

9And you saw that the breaches

In the wall of the city of David were many;

And you collected the waters of the lower pool.

10Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem

And tore down houses to fortify the wall.

11And you made a reservoir between the two walls

For the waters of the old 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 weeping, to wailing,

To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.

13Instead, behold, there is joy and gladness,

Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,

Eating of meat and drinking of wine:

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”

14But Yahweh of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,

“Surely this iniquity shall not be atoned for you

Until you die,” says Lord Yahweh of hosts.

15Thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts,

“Come, go to this steward,

To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household,

16‘What right do you have here,

And whom do you have here,

That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here,

You who hew a tomb on the height,

You who carve a dwelling place for [†]yourself in the cliff?

17Behold, Yahweh is about to hurl you headlong, O man.

And He is about to grasp you firmly

18And He will surely roll you tightly like a ball,

To be cast into a vast country;

There you will die,

And there your glorious chariots will be,

You disgrace of your master’s house.’

19I will push you out of your office,

And [†]I will pull you down from your station.

20Then it will be in that day,

That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

21And 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 father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

22Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder,

When he opens no one will shut,

When he shuts no one will open.

23I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,

And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.

24So 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. 25In that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for Yahweh has spoken.”