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v1
The oracle of the valley of vision: What business do you have going ^[Literally “What to you then that you have gone”] up, all of you, to the roofs,
v2
noisy, ^[Literally “full of noises”] tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain by the sword, nor are they dead from battle.
v3
All of your rulers have fled together without a bow; all of you who were found ^[Literally “your found ones”] were captured. They were captured together; they had fled far away.
v4
Therefore I said, “Look away from me, let me weep bitterly; ^[Literally “be bitter in weeping”] you must not insist on comforting me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
v5
For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion ^[These three Hebrew words are alliterative: m__e__hûm__â__ûm__e__ḇûs__â__ûm__e__ḇû__ḵâ] in the valley of vision, a tearing down of walls ^[Hebrew “wall”] and a cry for help to the mountains. ^[Hebrew “mountain”]
v6
And Elam lifted up the quiver, with chariots ^[Hebrew “chariot”] of men ^[Hebrew “man”] and cavalry. And Kir uncovered the shield.
v7
And this happened: the choicest of your valleys were full of chariots, ^[Hebrew “chariot”] and the cavalry confidently stood at the gate.
v8
And he uncovered the covering of Judah.
And you looked, on that day, to the weapons ^[Hebrew “weapon”] of the House of the Forest,
v9
and you saw that the breaches in the walls of the city of David were many,
and you gathered the waters of the lower pool.
v10
And you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.
v11
And you made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the old pool,
but you did not look to its maker, and you did not see the one who created it long ago. ^[Literally “its creator from far away”]
v12
And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day for weeping and mourning, and for baldness and girding with ^[Literally “of”] sackcloth.
v13
But look! Joy and gladness, the killing of oxen ^[Hebrew “ox”] and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!“
v14
And it was revealed in my ears by Yahweh of hosts: “Surely this sin will not be atoned for you until you die!” says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.
v15
The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this: “Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the house:
v16
‘What business do you have ^[Literally “to you”] here, and who do you have ^[Literally “to you”] here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave on the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?
v17
Look! Yahweh is about to really hurl ^[Literally “hurl a hurling”] you, man! And he is about to grasp you firmly;
v18
he will wind a winding tightly around you like _a_ ball, to a _wide land_. ^[Literally "land broad of sides"]
There you shall die, and there the chariots of your splendor will be, disgrace to your master’s house!
v19
And I will push you from your office, and he will throw you down from your position.
v20
And this shall happen: On that day I will call to my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
v21
and I will clothe him _with_ your tunic,
and I will bind your sash firmly about him, and I will put your authority into his hand, and he shall be like a father to the inhabitants ^[Hebrew “inhabitant”] of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
v22
And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder, and he shall open and no one will be able to shut; and he shall shut and no one will be able to open.
v23
And I will drive him in like a peg into a secure place, and he will become like a throne of glory to the house of his father.
v24
And they will hang all of the heaviness of his father’s house on him, the offspring and the offshoot, all of the small vessels, from the bowls to the jars. ^[Literally “vessels of the bowls to all of the vessels of the jars”]
v25
On that day, declares ^[Literally “declaration of”] Yahweh of hosts, the peg that was driven will move away into a secure place, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on her will be cut off. For Yahweh has spoken.‘”