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¹ Here is a message about the Valley of Vision:
What is the reason
that all of you go up to the rooftops?
² The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;
the town is filled with revelry.
Your slain were not cut down by the sword;
they did not die in battle.
³ All your leaders ran away together—
they fled to a distant place;
all your refugees were captured together—
they were captured without a single arrow being shot.
⁴ So I say:
"Don't look at me!
I am weeping bitterly.
Don't try to console me
concerning the destruction of my defenseless people."
⁵ For the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,
has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion.
In the Valley of Vision people shout
and cry out to the hill.
⁶ The Elamites picked up the quiver,
and came with chariots and horsemen;
the men of Kir prepared the shield.
⁷ Your very best valleys were full of chariots;
horsemen confidently took their positions at the gate.
⁸ They removed the defenses of Judah.
At that time you looked
for the weapons in the House of the Forest.
⁹ You saw the many breaks
in the walls of the City of David;
you stored up water in the lower pool.
¹⁰ You counted the houses in Jerusalem,
and demolished houses so you could have material to reinforce the wall.
¹¹ You made a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the old pool—
but you did not trust in the one who made it;
you did not depend on the one who formed it long ago!
¹² At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,
for shaved heads and sackcloth.
¹³ But look, there is outright celebration!
You say, "Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,
eat meat and drink wine.
Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

¹⁵ This is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says:
"Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace, and tell him:
¹⁶ ‘What right do you have to be here? What relatives do you have buried here?
Why do you chisel out a tomb for yourself here?
He chisels out his burial site in an elevated place,
he carves out his tomb on a cliff.
¹⁷ Look, the Lord will throw you far away, you mere man!
He will wrap you up tightly.
¹⁸ He will wind you up tightly into a ball
and throw you into a wide, open land.
There you will die,
and there with you will be your impressive chariots,
which bring disgrace to the house of your master.
¹⁹ I will remove you from your office;
you will be thrown down from your position.