Isaiah 22:21 - Prayer Tents



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Isaiah 22
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A Country of Cowards

22A Message concerning the Valley of Vision: What's going on here anyway? All this partying and noisemaking,H4853H1516H2384H645H5927H1406 2Shouting and cheering in the streets, the city noisy with celebrations!H4392H8663H1993H5892H5947H7151H2491H2491H2719H4191H4421 3You 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.H7101H5074H3162H631H7198H4672H631H3162H1272H7350

You Looked, but You Never Looked to Him

4In 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."H559H8159H1065H4843H213H5162H7701H1323H5971 5For 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!"H3117H4103H4001H3998H136H3069H6635H1516H2384H6979H7023H7771H2022 6Old enemies Elam and Kir arrive armed to the teeth— weapons and chariots and cavalry.H5867H5375H827H7393H120H6571H7024H6168H4043 7Your fine valleys are noisy with war, chariots and cavalry charging this way and that.H4005H6010H4390H7393H6571H7896H7896H8179 8God has left Judah exposed and defenseless. You assessed your defenses that Day, inspected your arsenal of weapons in the Forest Armory.H1540H4539H3063H5027H3117H5402H1004H3293 9You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool.H7200H1233H5892H1732H7231H6908H4325H8481H1295 10You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall.H5608H1004H3389H1004H5422H1219H2346 11You 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.H6213H4724H2346H4325H3465H1295H5027H6213H7200H3335H7350 12The 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.H3117H136H3069H6635H7121H1065H4553H7144H2296H8242 13But 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!"H8342H8057H2026H1241H7819H6629H398H1320H8354H3196H398H8354H4279H4191 14GOD-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.H1540H241H3068H6635H5771H3722H4191H559H136H3069H6635

The Key of the Davidic Heritage

15The 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:H559H136H3069H6635H3212H935H5532H7644H1004 16What'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.H2672H6913H6311H2672H6913H4791H2710H4908H5553 17GOD is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He'll grab you by the hair,H3068H2904H1397H2925H5844H5844 18swing 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!H6801H6801H6802H1754H7342H3027H776H4191H4818H3519H7036H113H1004 19You're fired—and good riddance!H1920H4673H4612H2040 20"On that Day I'll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.H3117H7121H5650H471H1121H2518 21I'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.H3847H3801H2388H73H5414H4475H3027H1H3427H3389H1004H3063 22I'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.H4668H1004H1732H5414H7926H6605H5462H5462H6605 23I'll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He'll secure the Davidic tradition.H8628H3489H539H4725H3519H3678H1H1004 24Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.H8518H3519H1H1004H6631H6849H3627H6996H3627H101H3627H5035 25"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.H3117H5002H3068H6635H3489H8628H539H4725H4185H1438H5307H4853H3772H3068H1696


The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. More details.
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