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The Valley of Vision

22 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([a]a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision:

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,

You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.

All your leaders have fled together [with your king],
And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.

Therefore I say, “Look away from me;
Let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion
In the Valley of Vision,
A [day of] breaking down walls
And a crying [for help] to the mountain.

Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.

And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].(A)

Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah;
And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon’s armory).(B)

You saw that the breaches
In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many;
You collected [within the city’s walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).
10 
Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].
11 
You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the [b]Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

12 
Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
13 
Instead, there is joy and jubilation,
Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine, saying,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14 
But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.

15 
For the Lord God of hosts says this, “Go to this [contemptible] steward,
To [c]Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],
16 
‘What business do you have here?
And whom do you have here,
That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself,
You who hew a sepulcher on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17 
‘Listen carefully, the Lord is about to hurl you away violently, O man;
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18 
And roll you up tightly like a ball
And toss you into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
19 
“I will depose you from your office,
And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].
20 
“Then it will come to pass in that day
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.
21 
“And I will clothe him with your tunic [of distinction]
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will entrust him with your authority;
He will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 
“Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open.
23 
“I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of honor and glory to his father’s house.

24 “So they will hang on him all the honor and glory [the complete responsibility] of his father’s house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars. 25 In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

The Fall of Tyre

23 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([d]a burden to be carried) concerning [e]Tyre:

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).

Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You [f]merchants of Sidon;
[g]Your messengers crossed the sea

And they were on great waters.
The grain of the [h]Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;
And she was the market of nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”

When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles];
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].

Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin dates back to antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?


Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?

The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.
10 
Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].
11 
He has stretched out His hand over the sea,
He has shaken the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].

12 
He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

13 Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their [i]siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

14 
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.

15 Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:

16 
Take a harp, walk around the city,
O forgotten prostitute;
Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.

17 It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the Lord will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute’s wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be [j]dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.

Judgment on the Earth

24 Behold, the Lord [k]lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all]. The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth also is polluted [l]by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.(C) Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.(D)


The new wine mourns,
The vine decays;
All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.

The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases,
The noise of those who rejoice ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.

They do not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 
The city of chaos is broken down;
Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11 
There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All jubilation is darkened,
The joy of the earth is banished.
12 
Horrible desolation is left in the city,
And the gate is battered into ruins.
13 
For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].
14 
They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.
15 
Therefore honor and glorify the Lord in the east [in the region of light],
The name of the Lord, the God of Israel [honor His name],
In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.
16 
From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!
The treacherous deal treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17 
Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare
Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 
Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19 
The earth is broken completely apart,
The earth is split apart,
The earth is shaken violently.
20 
The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard
And sways like a shack;
Its transgression lies heavily upon it,
And it will fall and not rise again.
21 
So it will happen in that day
That the Lord will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on the earth.(E)
22 
They will be gathered together
As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon;
They will be shut up in prison,
And after many days they will be visited and punished.(F)
23 
Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:1 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
  2. Isaiah 22:11 Perhaps a reference to the Gihon Spring, also called the Upper Pool.
  3. Isaiah 22:15 Shebna would have been second in command to King Hezekiah before being deposed from steward (administrator) to the position of scribe (36:3).
  4. Isaiah 23:1 I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
  5. Isaiah 23:1 Ancient Tyre was a Phoenician trading center with two separate urban areas; the major trading center was located on a fortified island and the suburban center was located on the adjacent coast. They were connected by a causeway built by Alexander the Great during his siege of Tyre.
  6. Isaiah 23:2 So some versions; MT reads merchant.
  7. Isaiah 23:2 The DSS so read. MT reads Who crossed the sea, they replenished you.
  8. Isaiah 23:3 An Egyptian name meaning “the pond of Horus”; it is probably a branch of the Nile or an unspecified lake.
  9. Isaiah 23:13 Besieging a heavily fortified (walled) city was an ancient military tactic. The attackers would surround the city and cut off all supplies and communication to or from the inhabitants, then they would use siege towers to tear down the walls. The tower was a massive support structure for a heavy beam or log that was sharpened on one end and hung horizontally. It would be pushed against a wall and worked in such a way as to dislodge the stones that had been stacked to form the wall.
  10. Isaiah 23:18 Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 572 b.c. and lay desolate for seventy years. The new city built on the island was taken by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c. Eventually Christianity prevailed at Tyre. Jesus visited there (Matt 15:21) and so did Paul (Acts 21:3-6). In his commentary on Isaiah Eusebius says that when the church of God was founded in Tyre, much of its wealth was consecrated to God and presented for the support of ministers. This is also the testimony of Jerome, the Latin church father writing in the fourth century.
  11. Isaiah 24:1 The gradual destruction of the earth, as revealed by God to Isaiah, is prophesied in this passage. He sees both the current and the future tragedies which will befall earth.
  12. Isaiah 24:5 Lit under.

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

22 A prophecy(A) against the Valley(B) of Vision:(C)

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,(D)
you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult(E) and revelry?(F)
Your slain(G) were not killed by the sword,(H)
    nor did they die in battle.
All your leaders have fled(I) together;
    they have been captured(J) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep(K) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”(L)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day(M)
    of tumult and trampling(N) and terror(O)
    in the Valley of Vision,(P)
a day of battering down walls(Q)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
Elam(R) takes up the quiver,(S)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir(T) uncovers the shield.
Your choicest valleys(U) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.(V)

The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day(W)
    to the weapons(X) in the Palace of the Forest.(Y)
You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through(Z) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.(AA)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses(AB) to strengthen the wall.(AC)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(AD)
    for the water of the Old Pool,(AE)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard(AF) for the One who planned(AG) it long ago.

12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day(AH)
to weep(AI) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair(AJ) and put on sackcloth.(AK)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(AL)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!(AM)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”(AN)

14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(AO) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(AP) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna(AQ) the palace(AR) administrator:(AS)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave(AT) for yourself(AU) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl(AV) you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw(AW) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots(AX) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted(AY) from your position.(AZ)

20 “In that day(BA) I will summon my servant,(BB) Eliakim(BC) son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash(BD) around him and hand your authority(BE) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder(BF) the key(BG) to the house of David;(BH) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(BI) 23 I will drive him like a peg(BJ) into a firm place;(BK) he will become a seat[a] of honor(BL) for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

25 “In that day,(BM)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg(BN) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.(BO)

A Prophecy Against Tyre

23 A prophecy against Tyre:(BP)

Wail,(BQ) you ships(BR) of Tarshish!(BS)
    For Tyre is destroyed(BT)
    and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
    word has come to them.

Be silent,(BU) you people of the island
    and you merchants(BV) of Sidon,(BW)
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
On the great waters
    came the grain of the Shihor;(BX)
the harvest of the Nile[b](BY) was the revenue of Tyre,(BZ)
    and she became the marketplace of the nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon,(CA) and you fortress of the sea,
    for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;(CB)
    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
When word comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish(CC) at the report from Tyre.(CD)

Cross over to Tarshish;(CE)
    wail, you people of the island.
Is this your city of revelry,(CF)
    the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
    to settle in far-off lands?
Who planned this against Tyre,
    the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants(CG) are princes,
    whose traders(CH) are renowned in the earth?
The Lord Almighty planned(CI) it,
    to bring down(CJ) her pride in all her splendor
    and to humble(CK) all who are renowned(CL) on the earth.

10 Till[c] your land as they do along the Nile,
    Daughter Tarshish,
    for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand(CM) over the sea
    and made its kingdoms tremble.(CN)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
    that her fortresses be destroyed.(CO)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,(CP)
    Virgin Daughter(CQ) Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;(CR)
    even there you will find no rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[d](CS)
    this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians(CT) have made it
    a place for desert creatures;(CU)
they raised up their siege towers,(CV)
    they stripped its fortresses bare
    and turned it into a ruin.(CW)

14 Wail, you ships(CX) of Tarshish;(CY)
    your fortress is destroyed!(CZ)

15 At that time Tyre(DA) will be forgotten for seventy years,(DB) the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
    you forgotten prostitute;(DC)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
    so that you will be remembered.”

17 At the end of seventy years,(DD) the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution(DE) and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.(DF) 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;(DG) they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,(DH) for abundant food and fine clothes.(DI)

The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth

24 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth(DJ)
    and devastate(DK) it;
he will ruin its face
    and scatter(DL) its inhabitants—
it will be the same
    for priest as for people,(DM)
    for the master as for his servant,
    for the mistress as for her servant,
    for seller as for buyer,(DN)
    for borrower as for lender,
    for debtor as for creditor.(DO)
The earth will be completely laid waste(DP)
    and totally plundered.(DQ)
The Lord has spoken(DR) this word.

The earth dries up(DS) and withers,(DT)
    the world languishes and withers,
    the heavens(DU) languish with the earth.(DV)
The earth is defiled(DW) by its people;
    they have disobeyed(DX) the laws,
violated the statutes
    and broken the everlasting covenant.(DY)
Therefore a curse(DZ) consumes the earth;
    its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,(EA)
    and very few are left.
The new wine dries up(EB) and the vine withers;(EC)
    all the merrymakers groan.(ED)
The joyful timbrels(EE) are stilled,
    the noise(EF) of the revelers(EG) has stopped,
    the joyful harp(EH) is silent.(EI)
No longer do they drink wine(EJ) with a song;
    the beer is bitter(EK) to its drinkers.
10 The ruined city(EL) lies desolate;(EM)
    the entrance to every house is barred.
11 In the streets they cry out(EN) for wine;(EO)
    all joy turns to gloom,(EP)
    all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
12 The city is left in ruins,(EQ)
    its gate(ER) is battered to pieces.
13 So will it be on the earth
    and among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,(ES)
    or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.(ET)

14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;(EU)
    from the west(EV) they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore in the east(EW) give glory(EX) to the Lord;
    exalt(EY) the name(EZ) of the Lord, the God of Israel,
    in the islands(FA) of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth(FB) we hear singing:(FC)
    “Glory(FD) to the Righteous One.”(FE)

But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!(FF)
    Woe(FG) to me!
The treacherous(FH) betray!
    With treachery the treacherous betray!(FI)
17 Terror(FJ) and pit and snare(FK) await you,
    people of the earth.(FL)
18 Whoever flees(FM) at the sound of terror
    will fall into a pit;(FN)
whoever climbs out of the pit
    will be caught in a snare.(FO)

The floodgates of the heavens(FP) are opened,
    the foundations of the earth shake.(FQ)
19 The earth is broken up,(FR)
    the earth is split asunder,(FS)
    the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth reels like a drunkard,(FT)
    it sways like a hut(FU) in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion(FV)
    that it falls(FW)—never to rise again.(FX)

21 In that day(FY) the Lord will punish(FZ)
    the powers(GA) in the heavens above
    and the kings(GB) on the earth below.
22 They will be herded together
    like prisoners(GC) bound in a dungeon;(GD)
they will be shut up in prison
    and be punished[e] after many days.(GE)
23 The moon will be dismayed,
    the sun(GF) ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty will reign(GG)
    on Mount Zion(GH) and in Jerusalem,
    and before its elders—with great glory.(GI)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 22:23 Or throne
  2. Isaiah 23:3 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile,
  3. Isaiah 23:10 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through
  4. Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans
  5. Isaiah 24:22 Or released