| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1The burden against the Valley of Vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops, | 1This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision : What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? |
| 2You who are full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous city? Your slain men are not slain with the sword, Nor dead 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; They are captured by the archers. All who are found in you are bound together; They have fled from afar. | 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, I will weep bitterly; Do not labor to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughter of my 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 it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity By the Lord GOD of hosts In the Valley of Vision— Breaking down the walls And of crying to the mountain. | 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 bore the quiver With chariots of men and horsemen, And Kir uncovered the shield. | 6Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields. |
| 7It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys Shall be full of chariots, And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. | 7Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates. |
| 8He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest; | 8Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons. |
| 9You also saw the damage to the city of David, That it was great; And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. | 9You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool. |
| 10You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, And the houses you broke down To fortify the wall. | 10You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls. |
| 11You also made a reservoir between the two walls For the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned 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. |
| 12And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts Called for weeping and for mourning, For baldness and for girding with 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 instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking 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!” |
| 14Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts, “Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,” says the Lord GOD of hosts. | 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 |
| 15Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “Go, proceed to this steward, To Shebna, who is over the house, and say: | 15This is what the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message: |
| 16‘What have you here, and whom have you here, That you have hewn a sepulcher here, As he who hews himself a sepulcher on high, Who carves a tomb for himself in a 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? |
| 17Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently, O mighty man, And will surely seize you. | 17For the LORD is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you, |
| 18He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball Into a large country; There you shall die, and there your glorious chariots Shall be the shame of your master’s house. | 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! |
| 19So I will drive you out of your office, And from your position he will pull you down. | 19“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the LORD. “I will pull you down from your high position. |
| 20‘Then it shall be in that day, That I will call My servant Eliakim the 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 strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be 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. |
| 22The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall 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 fasten him as a peg in a secure place, And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house. | 23He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. |
| 24‘They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. | 24They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family. ” |
| 25In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for 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 Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
|
