1 The burden of the valley of vision. What troubles thee now, that thou have wholly gone up to the housetops?
2 O thou that are full of shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous town. Thy slain are not slain with the sword, nor are they dead in battle.
3 All thy rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found of thee were bound together; they fled afar off.
4 Therefore I said, Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Labor not to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, LORD of hosts, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.
6 And Elam bore the quiver, with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
8 And he took away the covering of Judah, and thou looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest.
9 And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many. And to fortify the wall, ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool,
10 and ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye broke down the houses.
11 Ye also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But ye did not look to him who had done this, nor had ye respect to him who purposed it long ago.
12 And in that day the Lord, LORD of hosts, called for weeping, and for mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth.
13 And, behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.
14 And LORD of hosts revealed himself in my ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till ye die, says the Lord, LORD of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord, LORD of hosts, Go, get thee to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, [and say],
16 What are thou doing here? And whom have thou here, that thou have hewed thee out here a sepulcher? Hewing him out a sepulcher on high, carving a habitation for himself in the rock!
17 Behold, LORD, like a [strong] man, will hurl thee away violently. Yea, he will wrap thee up closely.
18 He will surely wind thee round and round, [tossing] like a ball into a large country. There thou shall die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be, thou shame of thy lord's house.
19 And I will thrust thee from thine office, and thou shall be pulled down from thy station.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy belt. And I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and he shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the flagons.
25 In that day, says LORD of hosts, the nail that was fastened in a sure place shall give way, and it shall be hewn down, and fall. And the burden that was upon it shall be cut off, for LORD has spoken it.