| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? | 1This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision : What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? |
| 2Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. | 2The 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. |
| 3All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far. | 3All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too. |
| 4Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. | 4That’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.” |
| 5For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. | 5Oh, 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. |
| 6And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. | 6Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields. |
| 7And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. | 7Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates. |
| 8And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest. | 8Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons. |
| 9Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. | 9You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool. |
| 10And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. | 10You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls. |
| 11Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. | 11Between 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. |
| 12And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: | 12At 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. |
| 13And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. | 13But 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!” |
| 14And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. | 14The 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. A Message for Shebna |
| 15Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, | 15This is what the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message: |
| 16What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? | 16“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? |
| 17Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. | 17For the LORD is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you, |
| 18He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house. | 18crumple 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! |
| 19And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. | 19“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the LORD. “I will pull you down from your high position. |
| 20And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: | 20And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. |
| 21And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. | 21I 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. |
| 22And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. | 22I 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. |
| 23And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. | 23He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. |
| 24And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. | 24They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family. ” |
| 25In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it. | 25But 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!” |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|
