1 T he special word about the Valley of Visions: What is wrong, that you have all gone up to the house tops,

¶ The burden of the valley of the vision. What ails thee now that thou art completely gone up to the housetops?

2 y ou who were full of noise, you loud town, you joy-filled city? Your dead were not killed with the sword. They did not die in battle.

Thou that art full of tumults, a tumultuous city, a joyous city, thy dead are not slain with the sword nor slain in battle.

3 A ll your rulers have run away together, and were taken without using the bow. All of you who were found were taken away together, even though you had run far away.

All thy princes together fled from the bow; they were bound; all that were found in thee were bound together; the others fled far away.

4 S o I said, “Turn your eyes away from me. Let me cry with much sorrow. Do not try to comfort me about my people being destroyed.”

Therefore I said, Leave me; I will weep bitterly; do not labour to comfort me of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

5 F or the Lord God of All has a day of fear, crushing down, and trouble in the Valley of Vision. There is a breaking down of walls and a crying out to the mountain.

For a day of trouble and of treading down and of wearing down by the Lord GOD of the hosts is sent in the valley of the vision to break down the wall and give a cry unto the mountain.

6 E lam took up the arrows with the war-wagons, soldiers and horsemen. And Kir let the battle-covering be seen.

Also Elam bore the quiver in a chariot of men and of horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

7 Y our best valleys were full of war-wagons, and the horsemen took their places at the gate.

And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the soldiers set themselves in array at the gate.

8 T hen God took away the safe-covering of Judah. In that day you trusted in the objects you had to fight with that were stored in the house among the trees.

¶ And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the house of weapons of the forest.

9 Y ou saw that there were many broken places in the wall of the city of David. You stored water in the lower pool.

Ye have also seen the breaches of the city of David that they are multiplied, and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

10 T hen you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and tore down houses to make the wall stronger.

And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye have broken down houses to fortify the wall.

11 Y ou made a place to store water between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. But you did not trust in God Who made it. You did not think about Him Who planned it long ago.

Ye also made a moat between the two walls with the water of the old pool, but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, nor had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.

12 S o in that day the Lord God of All called you to cry in sorrow, to cut off the hair from your head, and to wear cloth made from hair.

Therefore the Lord GOD of the hosts did call in this day unto weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth:

13 B ut instead, there is joy and happiness, killing of cattle and sheep, eating of meat, and drinking of wine. You say, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine while they say, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die.

14 B ut the Lord of All has made Himself known to me. The Lord God of All says, “For sure you will not be forgiven for this sin until you die.” Word about Shebna

This was revealed in my ears by the LORD of the hosts, That surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you until ye die, saith the Lord GOD of the hosts.

15 T he Lord God of All says, “Come, go to this person in Shebna who is taking care of the king’s house. Say to him,

¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD of the hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,

16 ‘ What right do you have here? Who told you that you could cut out a grave for yourself here? You cut out a grave on a high place! You cut a resting place for yourself in the rock!

What hast thou here? or whom hast thou here that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here as he that hews himself out a sepulchre on a high place or that graves a habitation for himself in a rock?

17 S ee, the Lord will throw you away without pity, O you strong man. He will take a strong hold of you

Behold, the LORD will carry thee away in a hard captivity and will surely cover thy face.

18 a nd roll you up like a ball to be thrown into a wide land. There you will die, and there your great war-wagons will be. You are a shame to your king’s house.’

He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country, there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall come to an end, the shame of the house of thy Lord.

19 I will throw you out of your place of power. I will take you down from your place.

And I will drive thee from thy place, and he shall pull thee down from thy state.

20 I n that day I will call My servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah.

And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my slave Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:

21 I will clothe him with your coat, and tie your belt around him. I will give him the power you had. He will become a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the family of Judah.

And I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

22 T hen I will put on his shoulder the rule of the family of David. What he opens, no one will shut. What he shuts, no one will open.

And the key of the house of David I will lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.

23 I will drive him like a nail in a hard place. He will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.

And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.

24 S o they will put on him all the honor of his father’s house, and of his children, and every little dish, from the cups to all the jars.

And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the sons and the grandsons, all the vessels of small quantity, from the cups to drink from even unto all the instruments of music.

25 “ In that day,” says the Lord of All, “the nail driven in a hard place will give way. It will break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off. For the Lord has spoken.”

In that day, saith the LORD of the hosts, the nail that is fastened in the sure place shall be removed and be cut down and fall and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD has spoken it.