1The prophecy concerning the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, That all thine inhabitants are gone up to the house-tops?
2Thou that wast full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous city! Thy slain fall not by the sword; They are not slain in battle.
3All thy leaders flee together, By the bowmen are they bound; All found within thee are made captive together, Even they who have fled from afar.
4Therefore, say I, look away from me, that I may weep bitterly; Strive not to comfort me for the desolation of the daughter of my people!
5For a day of trouble, of desolation, and of perplexity cometh From the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision. They break down the walls; The cry reacheth to the mountains.
6Elam beareth the quiver, With chariots full of men, and with horsemen; Kir uncovereth the shield.
7Thy fairest valleys, [[O Jerusalem,]] are full of chariots; The horsemen set themselves in array against the gate;
8The veil of Judah is torn from her. But in such a day ye look to the armor of the house of the forest;
9Ye mark how many are the breaches of the city of David, And collect the waters of the lower pool;
10Ye number the houses of Jerusalem, And ye break down the houses to prepare the wall;
11Ye make a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool; But ye look not to Him who hath done this; Ye regard not Him that hath prepared this from afar.
12The Lord, Jehovah of hosts, calleth you this day To weeping and to lamentation, To baldness and to girding with sackcloth.
13But, behold, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating flesh and drinking wine! “Let us eat and drink, For to-morrow we die!”
14Therefore it hath been revealed in my ears by Jehovah of hosts; “This iniquity shall not be forgiven you, till ye die,” Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
15Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts: Go in to this steward, To Shebna, who is over the household, and say,
16What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, That thou here hewest thee out a sepulchre,—That thou hewest out thy sepulchre on high, And gravest out a habitation for thyself in the rock?
17Behold, Jehovah will cast thee headlong with a mighty thrust;
18He will violently roll thee together like a ball; Like a ball will he hurl thee into a wide country. There shalt thou die; And there shall be thy splendid chariots, Thou disgrace of the house of thy lord!
19I will drive thee from thy post, And from thy station I will pull thee down.
20In that day I will call my servant, Even Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah;
21I will clothe him with thy robe, And bind thy girdle around him; Thy government will I commit to his hand, And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And to the house of Judah.
22I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; He shall open, and none shall shut, And he shall shut, and none shall open.
23I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, And he shall be a glorious seat for his father's house.
24Upon him shall hang all the glory of his father's house, The offspring and the offshoots; Every small vessel, from the goblet even to all the pitchers.
25In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, The peg that was once fastened in a sure place shall be moved; It shall be cut down, and fall, And the burden which was upon it shall come to the ground. For Jehovah hath said it.