Isaiah 22 - Prayer Tents

A Message about Jerusalem

22This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision

. What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops?H4853H1516H2384H645H5927H14062The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this reveling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease.H4392H8663H1993H5892H5947H7151H2491H2491H2719H4191H44213All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too.H7101H5074H3162H631H7198H4672H631H3162H1272H73504That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.”H559H8159H1065H4843H213H5162H7701H1323H59715Oh, what a day of crushing defeat! What a day of confusion and terror brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, upon the Valley of Vision! The walls of Jerusalem have been broken, and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.H3117H4103H4001H3998H136H3069H6635H1516H2384H6979H7023H7771H20226Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields.H5867H5375H827H7393H120H6571H7024H6168H40437Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates.H4005H6010H4390H7393H6571H7896H7896H81798Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory

for your weapons.H1540H4539H3063H5027H3117H5402H1004H32939You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem

. You store up water in the lower pool.H7200H1233H5892H1732H7231H6908H4325H8481H129510You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls.H5608H1004H3389H1004H5422H1219H234611Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago.H6213H4724H2346H4325H3465H1295H5027H6213H7200H3335H735012At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.H3117H136H3069H6635H7121H1065H4553H7144H2296H824213But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”H8342H8057H2026H1241H7819H6629H398H1320H8354H3196H398H8354H4279H419114The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H1540H241H3068H6635H5771H3722H4191H559H136H3069H6635

A Message for Shebna

15This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message.H559H136H3069H6635H3212H935H5532H7644H100416“Who do you think you are, and what are you doing here, building a beautiful tomb for yourself—a monument high up in the rock?H2672H6913H6311H2672H6913H4791H2710H4908H555317For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you,H3068H2904H1397H2925H5844H584418crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!H6801H6801H6802H1754H7342H3027H776H4191H4818H3519H7036H113H100419“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position.H1920H4673H4612H204020And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you.H3117H7121H5650H471H1121H251821I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.H3847H3801H2388H73H5414H4475H3027H1H3427H3389H1004H306322I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.H4668H1004H1732H5414H7926H6605H5462H5462H660523He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall.H8628H3489H539H4725H3519H3678H1H100424They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family

.”H8518H3519H1H1004H6631H6849H3627H6996H3627H101H3627H503525But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H3117H5002H3068H6635H3489H8628H539H4725H4185H1438H5307H4853H3772H3068H1696