¹A prophecy about the Valley of Vision:

Tell me what is wrong with you,

that you have all gone up on the roofs.

²You city full of noise, confusion

and boisterous excitement,

your slain did not fall to the sword,

nor did they die in battle.

³All your leaders fled together

and were captured without the use of a bow;

all from you who were found were captured,

even though they had fled far away.

⁴This is why I said, “Don’t look at me,

leave me alone to weep bitterly,

don’t try to comfort me

over the destruction of my people.”

⁵For it is a day of panic,

trampling and confusion

from Adonai Elohim -Tzva’ot

in the Valley of Vision.

With walls crashing down,

they cry for help to the mountains.

⁶‘Eilam picks up the quivers,

with cavalry and horsemen,

and Kir uncovers the shields.

⁷In time, your choicest valleys

are overrun by chariots,

and the cavalry take their posts by the gate;

⁸thus is Y’hudah’s protection removed.

That day you looked for the armor

in the House of the Forest.

⁹You saw how many breaches there were

in the City of David,

you collected water from the lower pool,

¹⁰you surveyed the houses in Yerushalayim,

tearing some down to fortify the wall.

¹¹You also built a reservoir between the two walls

for the water from the Old Pool;

but you didn’t look to Him who made these things;

you had no respect for Him who fashioned them long ago.

¹²That day Adonai Elohim -Tzva’ot

called on you to weep and mourn,

to shave your heads and wear sackcloth;

¹³but instead, one sees joy and celebrating,

killing of oxen, slaughtering of sheep,

eating of meat, drinking of wine —

“Let’s eat and drink now,

because tomorrow we’ll be dead!”

¹⁴Then Adonai -Tzva’ot revealed himself in my ears: “You will not atone for this iniquity until you die.” This is what Adonai Elohim -Tzva’ot says.

¹⁵Thus says Adonai Elohim -Tzva’ot : “Go and find that steward, Shevna, administrator of the palace, and ask him:

¹⁶‘What do you own here,

and who gave you the right

to cut yourself a tomb here?

Why do you get such an eminent tomb?

Why are you carving a resting-place

for yourself in the rock?’”

¹⁷Look, strong man! Adonai is about

to throw you out! He will grab you,

¹⁸roll you up, and toss you around

like a ball in the open country.

There you will die, with your fancy chariots,

you disgrace to your master’s palace!

¹⁹“I will remove you from your office,

I will snatch you from your post.

²⁰When that day comes, I will summon

my servant Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu.

²¹I will dress him in your robe,

gird him with your sash of office,

and invest him with your authority.

He will be a father to the people

living in Yerushalayim

and to the house of Y’hudah.

²²I will place the key of David’s house

on his shoulder;

no one will shut what he opens;

no one will open what he shuts.

²³“I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, so that he will become a seat of honor for his clan.

²⁴They will hang on him all the weight of his clan, descendants and offspring, as well as all the vessels of small capacity, from pitchers to cups.

²⁵When that day comes, the peg fastened firmly in place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the weight that was on it will be cut off.” For Adonai has said it.