1 An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision.
What ails you now,
that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2 you with your hustle and bustle
a tumultuous city, a wanton town?
Your slain men
have not been killed by the sword,
nor have they died in battle.
3 Together your leaders have fled;
they were captured under the threat of the bow.
Your valiant were caught together,
they had fled far away.
4 That is why I say,
“Look away from me.
I will weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me
over the ruin of the daughter of my people.”
5 There comes from the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth a day of trampling and rout.
In the Valley of Vision they undermine the walls
and the cries for help ascend to the mountains.
6 Elam bears the quiver
with charioteers and horsemen;
Kir uncovers the shield.
7 Chariots are all over your choicest valleys;
horsemen are stationed at the gates.
8 Judah is stripped of her defenses.
Let us eat and drink!
On that day you turned your eyes to the arsenal at the Palace of the Forest.
9 You saw the many breaches in the defenses of the city of David. You gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 You counted the houses of Jeru salem and tore down some of them to strengthen the wall.
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old Pool.
But you gave no thought to its Ma ker. You had no regard for him who had planned it long ago.
12 On that day the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth called you to weep and mourn, to shave your head and put on sackcloth.
13 But look, instead of that, there is wanton revelry: oxen are butch ered and sheep are slaughtered. You eat meat and get drunk, saying, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.”
14 A word from Yahweh Sabaoth has reached my ears: “This sin will not be forgiven until they die.”
Against a minister
15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh Saba oth: Go and talk to this man Shebna, who is the palace steward. Ask him:
16 Who are you and what right have you
to carve a resting place on the heights,
to cut out a burial place
for yourself here in the rock?
17 Look here, O you strongman,
Yahweh will seize you;
he will take you captive
and take firm hold of you.
18 He will roll you up,
toss you like a ball,
then violently hurl you down
into a large open land.
There you will perish
with the chariots of your glory,
O you, the shame of your master’s house!
19 You will be deposed, strongman.
I will hurl you down from where you are.
20 On that day I will summon
my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.
21 I will clothe him with your robe,
I will strengthen him with your girdle,
I will give him your authority,
and he will be a father
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the people of Judah.
22 Upon his shoulder I will place
the key of the House of David:
what he opens, no one shall shut;
what he shuts, no one shall open.
23 I will fasten him like a peg
in a sure spot,
and he will be a seat of honor
in the house of his father.
24 (Upon him will hang all the load of his father’s house – offspring and descendants, all the little vessels from bowls to jars.
25 On that day, says Yahweh Sabaoth, the peg fastened in a sure spot will give way; it will be cut down and the load hanging on it will fall. Thus Yahweh has spoken.)
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Comments Isaiah, Chapter 22
• 22.1 Against the Valley of Vision, namely, the cursed valley “Gehenna,” bordering Jerusalem on the south. All the people went up to express their delight. Hezekiah’s military victory or costly surrender to the Assyrians? Isaiah knows that today’s meager success means tomorrow’s defeat and humiliation. If they had listened to him instead of relying on their strength and their diplomacy, the Lord would have saved them.
• 8. The Jews were dragged into a new coalition against Assyria (705-701). Hezekiah reinforces Jerusalem’s defenses before Sen nacherib’s arrival.
Isaiah looks at the restlessness of those who refused to hear the call of Yahweh: he asked them to stay out of fruitless struggles and to dedi cate themselves to bringing about justice.
Neither Assyria nor Egypt is the savior that Israel needs. Assyria and Egypt, fighting against each other for predominance, are not preparing a civilization for the future. In the days of Isaiah, no one knew that Assyria and Egypt were about to disappear, or to lose their influence. People could not guess that the following centuries would be dominated by new cultures based on moral values (Bud dhism) or on a new sense of the creative human personality (Greek culture). Israel would also create one of these cultures through the sense of responsibility, the concern for justice, and the obedience to God’s word: this was Isaiah’s preaching.
Isaiah seemingly forgets what is needed for the security of his country, too small to survive without help. In fact, he indicates the most pressing political needs when he speaks of establishing national life on a just and moral bases. This is the only way to prepare for an unknown future, knowing that God is the one who has planned history long ago.
The people were having a good time in order to forget their tragedy. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Paul recalls these words in 1 Corinthians 15:32.