Dual Panel1“THE Valley of Vision”: an oracle. Tell me, what is amiss with you that all of you have climbed up on the roofs?
2You city full of tumult, you town in ferment and filled with uproar, your slain did not fall by the sword; they did not die in battle.
3All your commanders are in full flight, fleeing in groups from the bow; all your stoutest warriors dispersed in groups have fled in all directions.
4That is why I said: Turn your eyes away from me; leave me to weep in misery. Do not press consolation on me for the ruin of my people.
5For the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, has ordained a day of tumult, a day of trampling and turmoil in the Valley of Vision, clamour and cries among the mountains.
6Elam took up the quiver, horses were harnessed to the chariots of Aram, Kir bared the shield.
7Your fairest valleys were overrun by chariots and the city gates were beset by horsemen;
8the heart of Judah's defence was laid open. On that day you checked the weapons stored in the House of the Forest;
9you filled all the many pools in the City of David, collecting water from the Lower Pool.
10Then you surveyed the houses in Jerusalem, tearing some down to repair and fortify the wall,
11and between the two walls you constructed a reservoir for the water of the Old Pool. You did not look to the Maker of the city or consider him who fashioned it long ago.
12On that day the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, called for weeping and beating the breast in mourning, for shaving the head and putting on sackcloth.
13Instead there was joy and merrymaking, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine. “Let us eat and drink,” you said, “for tomorrow we die!”
14Here are words revealed to me by the LORD of Hosts: Assuredly your wickedness will never be wiped out; you will die for it. This is the word of the Lord, the LORD of Hosts.
15These were the words of the Lord, the LORD of Hosts: Go to the steward, this Shebna, comptroller of the household, and say:
16What have you here, or whom have you here, that you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself? Why should he hew his tomb in an eminent place, and carve for himself a resting-place in the rock?
17The LORD is about to shake you out, as a garment is shaken to rid it of lice;
18he will roll you up tightly and throw you like a ball into a land of vast expanses. There you will die, and there your chariot of honour will remain, bringing disgrace on your master's household.
19I shall remove you from office and pluck you from your post.
20On that day I shall send for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah;
21I shall invest him with your robe, equip him with your sash of office, and invest him with your authority; he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.
22I shall place the key of David's palace on his shoulder; what he opens none will shut, and what he shuts none will open.
23He will be a seat of honour for his father's family; I shall fasten him firmly in place like a peg.
24On him will hang the whole glory of the family, even to the meanest members -- all the paltriest of vessels, whether bowl or pot.
25On that day, says the LORD of Hosts, the peg which was firmly fastened in its place will be removed; cut off, it will fall, and the load hanging on it will be destroyed. The LORD has spoken.