Isaiah 22
22
Chapter 22
A message about Jerusalem
1This is a message about the city that is called ‘Vision Valley’. #22:1 Verses 1 to 14 are about the city of Jerusalem.
What are you doing? You have all climbed up on the roofs of your houses! #22:1 The houses had flat roofs.
2Your city is full of the noise of parties, and people are shouting. It was not war that killed the people who are lying in your streets. They did not die in a battle.
3When the enemy came, all your leaders ran far away. The enemy caught all your people. They caught them all and they did not need to shoot any arrows!
4So I say, ‘Leave me alone! Let me weep with many tears. The enemy has killed many of my people, so do not try to comfort me.’
5The Lord, the Almighty Lord, has decided to bring great trouble to Vision Valley. It is a day of fear. People run here and there because they do not know what to do. The enemy knocks down the city's walls. People shout to the hills for help. 6Elam's soldiers came with bows and arrows. They came with chariots and riders on horses. Kir's soldiers prepared their shields to fight. 7So your beautiful valleys were full of chariots. Soldiers on horses prepared to attack your city's gates.
8The enemy destroyed Judah's strong places where people could be safe. In that day, you looked for weapons in the House of the Forest. #22:8 ‘The House of the Forest’ was a special building in Jerusalem where they stored their weapons. 9You saw that there were many holes in the walls of the City of David. You stored water in the Lower Pool. 10You counted the houses in Jerusalem and you knocked down some of them. You used the stones to make the city's wall stronger.
11You built a place between the city's walls to store water from the Old Pool. But you did not trust the One who made the city. You did not think about the One who decided to build it a long time ago.
12At that time, the Lord Almighty told you to be very sad and weep. He told you to cut all the hair off your heads and to wear rough clothes.
13But instead, you are happy and you dance! You kill cows and sheep for a feast! You eat lots of meat and you drink lots of wine. You say, ‘We will have a big feast today, because tomorrow we will be dead!’
14But the Lord Almighty has told me this: ‘I will never forgive this sin of my people for as long as they live.’
That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord has said.
15This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Now go and speak to Shebna, the officer with authority in the king's palace. #22:15 Verses 15 to 24 are about royal officers called Shebna and Eliakim. 16Say to him, “You should not be here in the palace. You have cut a grave in the rock here for yourself, but you do not have the authority to do that! You have made a beautiful grave high up on the hill, as if you belong with the kings.
17But look! The Lord will catch you and he will throw you out! You are just a man. He will take hold of you with all his strength. 18He will hold you in his hand like a ball and he will throw you far away. You will die in that large, open country. Your great chariots will be useless there with you. You have brought shame to your master's family.”
19I will remove you from your job. You will no longer be an important officer in the palace.
20At that time, I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, to come. 21I will put on him your special clothes. I will tie your belt round him. I will give your authority to him. Then Eliakim will become like a father to the people in Jerusalem and the people in Judah. 22I will give the key of David's royal family to him. He will have complete authority. Any door that he opens, nobody may close it. Any door that he closes, nobody may open it.
23I will fix him strongly in his place, like a peg in a strong wall. Because of him, people will respect and praise his father's family. 24His children and his family will become more important because of him. They will be like bowls, cups and jars that hang on him as the strong peg.’
25The Lord Almighty says, ‘When the time comes, the strong peg will fall out of the wall. I will cut it down and it will fall. Then all the things that hang on it will fall down as well.’
That is what the Lord has said.
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Isaiah 22: EASY
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MissionAssist 2018
Isaiah 22
22
A Message about Jerusalem
1This is a message about the Valley of Vision.
What is happening? Why are all the people of the city celebrating on the roofs of the houses? 2The whole city is in an uproar, filled with noise and excitement.
Your people who died in this war did not die fighting. 3All your leaders ran away and were captured before they shot a single arrow. 4Now leave me alone to weep bitterly over all those of my people who have died. Don't try to comfort me. 5This is a time of panic, defeat, and confusion in the Valley of Vision, and the Sovereign LORD Almighty has sent it on us. The walls of our city have been battered down, and cries for help have echoed among the hills.
6The soldiers from the land of Elam came riding on horseback, armed with bows and arrows. Soldiers from the land of Kir had their shields ready. 7The fertile valleys of Judah were filled with chariots; soldiers on horseback stood in front of Jerusalem's gates. 8All Judah's defences crumbled.
When that happened, you brought weapons out of the arsenal. 9-10You found the places where the walls of Jerusalem needed repair. You inspected all the houses in Jerusalem and tore some of them down to get stones to repair the city walls. In order to store water, 11you built a reservoir inside the city to hold the water flowing down from the old pool. But you paid no attention to God, who planned all this long ago and who caused it to happen.
12The Sovereign LORD Almighty was calling you then to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth. 13#1 Cor 15.32Instead, you laughed and celebrated. You killed sheep and cattle to eat, and you drank wine. You said, “We might as well eat and drink! Tomorrow we'll be dead.”
14The Sovereign LORD Almighty himself spoke to me and said, “This evil will never be forgiven them as long as they live. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken.”
A Warning to Shebna
15The Sovereign LORD Almighty told me to go to Shebna, the manager of the royal household, and say to him, 16“Who do you think you are? What right have you to carve a tomb for yourself out of the rocky hillside? 17You may be important, but the LORD will pick you up and throw you away. 18He will pick you up like a ball and throw you into a much larger country. You will die there beside the chariots you were so proud of. You are a disgrace to your master's household. 19The LORD will remove you from office and bring you down from your high position.”
20The LORD said to Shebna, “When that happens, I will send for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21I will put your official robe and belt on him and give him all the authority you have had. He will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. 22#Rev 3.7I will give him complete authority under the king, the descendant of David. He will have the keys of office; what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open. 23I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, and he will be a source of honour to his whole family.
24“But all his relatives and dependants will become a burden to him. They will hang on him like pots and bowls hanging from a peg! 25When that happens, the peg that was firmly fastened will work loose and fall. And that will be the end of everything that was hanging on it.” The LORD has spoken.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.