Isaiah 22

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Isaiah chapter 22 begins with a prophecy concerning the Valley of Vision, describing a city of commotion where rulers flee and people face destruction without dying by the sword. The text details how the Lord God of Hosts brings a day of tumult, with Elam and Kir attacking with chariots and horsemen while Judah inspects its defenses, repairs wall breaches, and stores water in Jerusalem. Despite a divine call for mourning and sackcloth, the inhabitants respond with feasting and celebration, leading the Lord to declare that their sin will not be atoned for. Later, the Lord instructs the prophet to confront Shebna, the palace steward, announcing that he will be removed from his position, hurled into a distant land, and replaced by Eliakim son of Hilkiah. Eliakim is granted Shebna's robe, sash, authority, and the key of the house of David, though the chapter concludes with a statement that the secure peg symbol will eventually give way and fall.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops, ²O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle. ³All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place. ⁴Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.” ⁵For the Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the Valley of Vision— of breaking down the walls and crying to the mountains. ⁶Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield. ⁷Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the gates. ⁸He has uncovered the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. ⁹You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool. ¹⁰You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall. ¹¹You built a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider Him who planned it long ago. ¹²On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. ¹³But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ¹⁴The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts. ¹⁵This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace: ¹⁶What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock? ¹⁷Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, ¹⁸roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain—a disgrace to the house of your master. ¹⁹I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position. ²⁰On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house 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, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father. ²⁴So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. ²⁵In that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and fall, and the load upon it will be cut down.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

Test this chapter

Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.