66 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
66 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 22
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1 This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision:
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What is happening?
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Why is everyone running to the rooftops?
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2 The whole city is in a terrible uproar.
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What do I see in this reveling city?
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Bodies are lying everywhere,
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killed not in battle but by famine and disease.
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3 All your leaders have fled.
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They surrendered without resistance.
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The people tried to slip away,
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but they were captured, too.
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4 That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep;
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do not try to comfort me.
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Let me cry for my people
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as I watch them being destroyed.”
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5 Oh, what a day of crushing defeat!
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What a day of confusion and terror
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brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
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upon the Valley of Vision!
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The walls of Jerusalem have been broken,
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and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.
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6 Elamites are the archers,
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with their chariots and charioteers.
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The men of Kir hold up the shields.
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7 Chariots fill your beautiful valleys,
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and charioteers storm your gates.
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8 Judah’s defenses have been stripped away.
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You run to the armory for your weapons.
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9 You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem.
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You store up water in the lower pool.
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10 You survey the houses and tear some down
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for stone to strengthen the walls.
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11 Between the city walls, you build a reservoir
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for water from the old pool.
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But you never ask for help from the One who did all this.
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You never considered the One who planned this long ago.
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12 At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
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called you to weep and mourn.
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He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins
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and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
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13 But instead, you dance and play;
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you slaughter cattle and kill sheep.
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You feast on meat and drink wine.
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You say, “Let’s feast and drink,
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for tomorrow we die!”
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14 The 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.
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15 This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message:
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16 “Who do you think you are,
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and what are you doing here,
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building a beautiful tomb for yourself—
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a monument high up in the rock?
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17 For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man.
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He is going to grab you,
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18 crumple you into a ball,
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and toss you away into a distant, barren land.
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There you will die,
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and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless.
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You are a disgrace to your master!
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19 “Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position.
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20 And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you.
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21 I 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.
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22 I 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.
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23 He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall.
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24 They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”
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25 But 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!” |