| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision : What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? | 1This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops, |
| 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. | 2O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle. |
| 3All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too. | 3All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place. |
| 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.” | 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.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 6Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields. | 6Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield. |
| 7Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates. | 7Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the gates. |
| 8Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons. | 8He has uncovered the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. |
| 9You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool. | 9You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool. |
| 10You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls. | 10You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 12On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. |
| 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!” | 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 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 | 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, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message: | 15This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace: |
| 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? | 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? |
| 17For the LORD is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you, | 17Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, |
| 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! | 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. |
| 19“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the LORD. “I will pull you down from your high position. | 19I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position. |
| 20And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. | 20On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 23He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. | 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. |
| 24They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family. ” | 24So they will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. |
| 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!” | 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. |
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