1 The oracle about the valley of vision. What is wrong with you, that all of you have climbed up on the roofs,
2 you city full of commotion, noisy and partying town? Your dead were not cut down by the sword or killed in battle.
3 Your leaders all ran away together and were captured without a bow being drawn; all of you who were found were taken prisoner together, though they had fled far off.
4 So I said, "Turn your eyes away from me and let me weep bitter tears. Do not press me with comfort over the ruin of my dear people."
5 For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of panic, trampling and bewilderment in the valley of vision, a day of walls torn down and of cries echoing to the mountains.
6 Elam picked up the quiver, with charioteers and horsemen, and Kir stripped the cover off the shield.
7 Your finest valleys were filled with chariots, and horsemen were posted at the gate.
8 He took away Judah's protection. On that day you turned your eyes to the weapons in the House of the Forest.
9 You saw how many gaps there were in the walls of the city of David; you stored up water in the lower pool;
10 you took a count of the houses in Jerusalem and knocked houses down to strengthen the wall.
11 Between the two walls you built a reservoir for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to the one who made it, or give any thought to the one who formed it long ago.
12 On that day the Lord GOD of hosts called for weeping and lament, for shaving the head and putting on sackcloth.
13 Instead there was joy and merrymaking, oxen killed and sheep slaughtered, meat eaten and wine drunk. "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
14 The LORD of hosts has revealed this in my hearing: "This iniquity will never be atoned for you until the day you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts.
15 This is what the Lord GOD of hosts says: "Go to this official, to Shebna, the man in charge of the palace, and say:
16 'What are you doing here, and who gave you leave to be here, that you have cut out a tomb for yourself here, cutting your grave high up and carving out a home for yourself in the rock?
17 Watch out! The LORD is about to throw you far away, you strong man; he is going to grab hold of you,
18 roll you up tight like a ball and hurl you into a wide open country. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain, you disgrace to your master's house!
19 I will push you out of your office, and you will be pulled down from your position.
20 On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
21 I will dress him in your robe, tie your sash securely around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 I will lay the key of the house of David on his shoulder; what he opens no one will shut, and what he shuts no one will open.
23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a seat of honor for his father's family.
24 All the weight of his father's family will hang on him, its offspring and its offshoots, all the smaller vessels, from the bowls to every kind of jar.
25 On that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be broken off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.' The LORD has spoken."