Daily Bible Reading

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

1The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

What do you mean that you have gone up,

all of you, to the housetops,

2you who are full of shoutings,

tumultuous city, exultant town?

Your slain are not slain with the sword

or dead in battle.

3All your leaders have fled together;

without the bow they were captured.

All of you who were found were captured,

though they had fled far away.

4Therefore I said:

“Look away from me;

let me weep bitter tears;

do not labor to comfort me

concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

5For the Lord God of hosts has a day

of tumult and trampling and confusion

in the valley of vision,

a battering down of walls

and a shouting to the mountains.

6And Elam bore the quiver

with chariots and horsemen,

and Kir uncovered the shield.

7Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,

and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.

8He has taken away the covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

12In that day the Lord God of hosts

called for weeping and mourning,

for baldness and wearing sackcloth;

13and behold, joy and gladness,

killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,

eating flesh and drinking wine.

“Let us eat and drink,

for tomorrow we die.”

14The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:

“Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”

says the Lord God of hosts.

15Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. 24And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

1A prophecy against the Valley of Vision:

What troubles you now,

that you have all gone up on the roofs,

2you town so full of commotion,

you city of tumult and revelry?

Your slain were not killed by the sword,

nor did they die in battle.

3All your leaders have fled together;

they have been captured without using the bow.

All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,

having fled while the enemy was still far away.

4Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;

let me weep bitterly.

Do not try to console me

over the destruction of my people.”

5The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day

of tumult and trampling and terror

in the Valley of Vision,

a day of battering down walls

and of crying out to the mountains.

6Elam takes up the quiver,

with her charioteers and horses;

Kir uncovers the shield.

7Your choicest valleys are full of chariots,

and horsemen are posted at the city gates.

8The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,

and you looked in that day

to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.

9You saw that the walls of the City of David

were broken through in many places;

you stored up water

in the Lower Pool.

10You counted the buildings in Jerusalem

and tore down houses to strengthen the wall.

11You built a reservoir between the two walls

for the water of the Old Pool,

but you did not look to the One who made it,

or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.

12The Lord, the Lord Almighty,

called you on that day

to weep and to wail,

to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.

13But see, there is joy and revelry,

slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,

eating of meat and drinking of wine!

“Let us eat and drink,” you say,

“for tomorrow we die!”

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

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

“Go, say to this steward,

to Shebna the palace administrator:

16What are you doing here and who gave you permission

to cut out a grave for yourself 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 you away, you mighty man.

18He will roll you up tightly like a ball

and throw you into a large country.

There you will die

and there the chariots you were so proud of

will become a disgrace to your master’s house.

19I will depose you from your office,

and you will be ousted from your position.

20“In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. 24All 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,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg 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.