New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 A prophecy against the Valley of Vision: What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs,
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A Message concerning the Valley of Vision: What's going on here anyway? All this partying and noisemaking,
2 you town so full of commotion, you city of tumult and revelry? Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle.
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Shouting and cheering in the streets, the city noisy with celebrations!
3 All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away.
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You have no brave soldiers to honor, no combat heroes to be proud of. Your leaders were all cowards, captured without even lifting a sword, A country of cowards captured escaping the battle. You Looked, but You Never Looked to Him
4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.”
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In the midst of the shouting, I said, "Let me alone. Let me grieve by myself. Don't tell me it's going to be all right. These people are doomed. It's not all right."
5 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.
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For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, is bringing a day noisy with mobs of people, Jostling and stampeding in the Valley of Vision, knocking down walls and hollering to the mountains, "Attack! Attack!"
6 Elam takes up the quiver, with her charioteers and horses; Kir uncovers the shield.
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Old enemies Elam and Kir arrive armed to the teeth - weapons and chariots and cavalry.
7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the city gates.
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Your fine valleys are noisy with war, chariots and cavalry charging this way and that.
8 The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.
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God has left Judah exposed and defenseless.
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David were broken through in many places; you stored up water in the Lower Pool.
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You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool.
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall.
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You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall.
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.
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You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water. You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.
12 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
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The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, called out on that Day, Called for a day of repentant tears, called you to dress in somber clothes of mourning.
13 But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!”
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But what do you do? You throw a party! Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets! You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast - slabs of meat, kegs of beer. "Seize the day! Eat and drink! Tomorrow we die!"
14 The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,” says the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
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God-of-the-Angel-Armies whispered to me his verdict on this frivolity: "You'll pay for this outrage until the day you die." The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says so. The Key of the Davidic Heritage
15 This is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: “Go, say to this steward, to Shebna the palace administrator:
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The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: "Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king's affairs, and tell him:
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock?
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What's going on here? You're an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you're important.
17 “Beware, the LORD is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away, you mighty man.
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God is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He'll grab you by the hair,
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there the chariots you were so proud of will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
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swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you're out of sight. Where you'll land, nobody knows. And there you'll die, and all the stuff you've collected heaped on your grave. You've disgraced your master's house!
19 I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position.
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You're fired - and good riddance!
20 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
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"On that Day I'll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.
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I'll dress him in your robe. I'll put your belt on him. I'll give him your authority. He'll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah.
22 I 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.
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I'll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He'll have the run of the place - open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked.
23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father.
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I'll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He'll secure the Davidic tradition.
24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
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Everything will hang on him - not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.
25 “In that day,” declares the LORD Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The LORD has spoken.
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"And then the Day will come," says God-of-the-Angel-Armies, "when that nail will come loose and fall out, break loose from that solid wall - and everything hanging on it will go with it." That's what will happen. God says so.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.