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The Valley of Vision

¹ The mournful, inspired oracle (^(F1)a burden to be carried) concerning the ^(C1)Valley of Vision:

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the ^(C2)housetops,

² You Jerusalem who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a ^(C1)joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were ^(C2)not slain in a glorious death with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.

^3 (C1)All your leaders have fled together with your king,
And have been captured without the bow which they had thrown away;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.

⁴ Therefore I say, "Look away from me;
Let me ^(C1)weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people."

^5 (C1)For the Lord GOD of hosts has a ^(C2)day of panic and of tumult, of ^(C3)trampling, of confusion
^(C4)In the Valley of Vision,
A day of breaking down walls
And a crying for help to the mountain.

^6 (C1)Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And ^(C2)Kir uncovered the shield.

⁷ And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took their fixed positions in an offensive array at the gate of Jerusalem. ^(VR1)

⁸ Then God removed the protective covering of Judah;
And in that day you looked to the weapons of the ^(C1)House of the Forest (Solomon's armory). ^(VR1)

⁹ You saw that the breaches
In the wall of the City of David the citadel of Zion were many;
You ^(C1)collected within the city's walls the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).

¹⁰ Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And you tore down the houses to get materials to fortify the city wall by extending it.

¹¹ You also made a reservoir ^(C1)between the two walls
For the waters of the ^(F1)(C2)Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

¹² Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to ^(C1)weeping, to mourning,
To ^(C2)shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth in humiliation.

¹³ Instead, there is ^(C1)joy and jubilation,
Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine, saying,
"^(C2)Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die."

¹⁴ But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
"This ^(C1)sin ^(C2)absolutely will not be forgiven you
^(C3)Until you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts.

¹⁵ For the Lord GOD of hosts says this, "Go to this contemptible steward,
To ^(F1)(C1)Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him,

¹⁶ 'What business do you have here?
And whom do you have here,
That you have ^(C1)hewn out a tomb here for yourself,
You who hew a sepulcher on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

¹⁷ 'Listen carefully, the LORD is about to hurl you away violently, O man;
And He is about to grasp you firmly

¹⁸ And roll you up tightly like a ball
And ^(C1)toss you into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master's house.'

¹⁹ "I will ^(C1)depose you from your office,
And you will be pulled down from your position of importance.

²⁰ "Then it will come to pass in that day
That I will summon My servant ^(C1)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.

²¹ "And I will clothe him with your tunic of distinction
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will entrust him with your authority;
He will become a ^(C1)father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

²² "Then I will set on his shoulder ^(C1)the key of the ^(C2)house of David;
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will ^(C3)open.

²³ "I will drive him like a ^(C1)peg in a firm place,
And he will become a ^(C2)throne of honor and glory to his father's house.