| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1A pronouncement concerning the Valley of Vision: What's the matter with you? Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops? | 1This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision : What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? |
| 2The noisy city, the jubilant town, is filled with celebration. Your dead did not die by the sword; they were not killed in battle. | 2The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this reveling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease. |
| 3All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together; they had fled far away. | 3All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too. |
| 4Therefore I said, "Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly! Do not try to comfort me about the destruction of my dear people." | 4That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.” |
| 5For the Lord GOD of Armies had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion in the Valley of Vision--people shouting and crying to the mountains; | 5Oh, what a day of crushing defeat! What a day of confusion and terror brought by the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, upon the Valley of Vision! The walls of Jerusalem have been broken, and cries of death echo from the mountainsides. |
| 6Elam took up a quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. | 6Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields. |
| 7Your best valleys were full of chariots, and horsemen were positioned at the city gates. | 7Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates. |
| 8He removed the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. | 8Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons. |
| 9You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. You collected water from the lower pool. | 9You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool. |
| 10You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. | 10You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls. |
| 11You made a reservoir between the walls for the water of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the one who made it, or consider the one who created it long ago. | 11Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago. |
| 12On that day the Lord GOD of Armies called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads, and for the wearing of sackcloth. | 12At that time the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse. |
| 13But look: joy and gladness, butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep and goats, eating of meat, and drinking of wine--"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" | 13But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” |
| 14The LORD of Armies has directly revealed to me: "This iniquity will not be wiped out for you people as long as you live." The Lord GOD of Armies has spoken. | 14The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. A Message for Shebna |
| 15The Lord GOD of Armies said: "Go to Shebna, that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: | 15This is what the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message: |
| 16What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a resting place for yourself out of rock? | 16“Who do you think you are, and what are you doing here, building a beautiful tomb for yourself— a monument high up in the rock? |
| 17Look, you strong man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, | 17For the LORD is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you, |
| 18wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be--a disgrace to the house of your lord. | 18crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master! |
| 19I will remove you from your office; you will be ousted from your position. | 19“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the LORD. “I will pull you down from your high position. |
| 20"On that day I will call for my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. | 20And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. |
| 21I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. | 21I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. |
| 22I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. | 22I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. |
| 23I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father's family. | 23He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. |
| 24They will hang on him all the glory of his father's family: the descendants and the offshoots--all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. | 24They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family. ” |
| 25On that day"--the declaration of the LORD of Armies--"the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed." Indeed, the LORD has spoken. | 25But the LORD of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the LORD, have spoken!” |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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