1 The burden of the prophecy concerning the city that dwells in the valley, about which the prophets prophesied. What troubles you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops? 2 because of the tumult that fills the praiseworthy, fortified, joyous city. Your slain were not slain by the sword, nor did they die in battle. 3 All your rulers have been led away; from before the bent bow they have gone into captivity together; all who were found in you have been slain, together they fled far away. 4 Therefore I said, Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly; do not try to comfort me for the desolation of the congregation of my people. 5 For it is a day of tumult, of trampling underfoot, and of slaughter before the Lord, the God of hosts, against the city that dwells in the valley, against which the prophets prophesied. They search the houses, they surround the towers that are on the tops of the mountains. 6 And the Elamites have taken up arms in the chariot of a man, and with him are a pair of horsemen, and on the wall they hang the shields. 7 And it will happen that the most beautiful of your valleys will be filled with chariots, and the horsemen will be set against the gates. 8 And he will remove the covering of Judah, and in that day he will look to the weapons in the house of the treasury of the sanctuary. 9 And you will see that the breaches of the city of David are many, and you will gather the people together at the lower pool. 10 And you will count the houses of Jerusalem, and you will tear down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 And you will make a reservoir between the walls for the water of the old pool; but you have not looked to its Maker, nor had regard for Him who created it long ago. 12 And the prophet of the LORD, the God, the God of hosts, called in that day for weeping and mourning, for shaving the head and wearing sackcloth; 13 but instead there is joy and gladness; they say, “Let us slay oxen and kill sheep, let us eat meat and drink wine; let us eat and drink, for we will die and not live.” 14 The prophet said, With my own ears I heard when this was decreed from before the LORD of hosts, that this iniquity of yours will not be forgiven you until you die the second death, said the Lord, the God, the God of hosts.⁠a 15 Thus said the Lord, the God, the God of hosts, “Come, go to this ruler, to Shebna, who is appointed over the house, 16 and you will say to him, ‘What do you have here, and whom do you have here, that you have prepared a place for yourself here? He has prepared his place on high! He has carved out in the rock a dwelling place for himself!’” 17 The LORD will hurl you away with a mighty hurling, and He will cover you with shame. 18 He will take away your crown, and the enemies will surround you like an encircling wall, and they will lead you into captivity into a spacious country; there you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will return in disgrace, because you have not kept the honor of your master’s house. 19 And I will thrust you down from your station, and I will strip you of your office. 20 And at that time I will make my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah great. 21 And I will clothe him with your robe, and bind your sash on him, and I will commit your authority into his hand, and he will be a prince to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place the key of the house of the sanctuary and the government of the house of David in his hand;⁠b he will open, and none will shut; he will shut, and none will open. 23 And I will appoint him as a faithful chief governor, an officer in a secure place, and he will be a glorious throne to his father’s house. 24 All the nobles of his father’s house will rest upon him, the children and the children’s children, from the young men to the little ones, from the priests clothed with the ephod to the Levites who hold the lyres. 25 At that time, says the LORD of hosts, the faithful chief governor who ministered in a secure place will be removed; he will be cut off and will fall, and the burden of prophecy concerning him will be accomplished, because the Memra of the LORD has so decreed it.