against shebna the steward.—chap. xxii. 15–25.
(Appendix to the Tetralogy in chaps xxi., xxii. 14.)
15. Thus spake the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee to that steward there, to Shebna the house-mayor. 16. What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou art hewing thyself out a sepulchre here, hewing out his sepulchre high up, digging himself a dwelling in rocks? 17. Behold, Jehovah hurleth thee, hurling with a man’s throw, and graspeth thee grasping. 18. Coiling, He coileth thee a coil, a ball into a land far and wide; there shalt thou die, and thither the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of the house of thy lord! 19. And I thrust thee from thy post, and from thy standing-place He pulleth thee down.
20. And it will come to pass in that day, that I call to my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21. and invest him with thy coat, and I throw thy sash firmly round him, and place thy government in his hand; and he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22. And I place the key of David upon his shoulder: and when he opens, no man shuts; and when he shuts, no man opens. 23. And I fasten him as a plug in a fast place, and he becomes the seat of honour to his father’s house. 24. And the whole mass of his father’s house hangs upon him, the offshoots and the side-shoots, every small vessel, from the vessel of the basins even to every vessel of the pitchers. 25. In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will the peg that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cast down, and fall; and the burden that it bore falls to the ground: for Jehovah hath spoken.
the oracle concerning tyre.—chap. xxiii.
(Conclusion of the Cycle of Prophecies Relating to the Heathen.)
1. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entrance any more! Out of the land of the Chittæans it is made known to them. 2. Be alarmed, ye inhabitants of the coast! Sidonian merchants, sailing over the sea, filled thee once. 3. And the sowing of Sichor came upon great waters, the harvest of the Nile, her store; and she became gain for nations. 4. Shudder, O Sidon; for the sea speaketh, the fortress of the sea, thus: I have not travailed, nor given birth, nor trained up young men, brought up maidens. 5. When the report cometh to Egypt, they tremble at the report from Tzor.
6. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast! 7. Is this your fate, thou full of rejoicing, whose origin is from the days of the olden time, whom her feet carried far away to settle? 8. Who hath determined such a thing concerning Tzor, the distributor of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the chief men of the earth! 9. Jehovah of hosts hath determined it, to desecrate the pomp of every kind of ornament, to dishonour the chief men of the earth, all of them.
10. Overflow thy land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish! No girdle restrains thee any longer. 11. His hand hath He stretched over the sea, thrown the kingdoms into trembling; Jehovah hath given commandment concerning Kena’an to destroy her fortresses. 12. And He said, Thou shalt not rejoice any further, thou disgraced one, virgin daughter of Sidon. Go up to Kittim, go over; there also shalt thou not find rest. 13. Behold the Chaldean land: this people that has not been (Asshur—it hath prepared the same for desert beasts)—they set up their siege-towers, destroy the palaces of Kena’an, make it a heap of ruins. 14. Mourn, ye ships of Tarshish: for your fortress is laid waste.
15. And it will come to pass in that day, that Tzor will be forgotten seventy years, equal to the days of one king; after the end of seventy years Tzor will go, according to the song of the harlot. 16. Take the guitar, sweep through the city, O forgotten harlot! Play bravely, sing zealously, that thou mayest be remembered! 17. And it will come to pass at the end of the seventy years: Jehovah will visit Tzor, and she comes again to her hire, and commits prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the broad surface of the globe. 18. And her gain and her reward of prostitution will be holy to Jehovah: it is not stored up nor gathered together; but her gain from commerce will be theirs who dwell before Jehovah, to eat to satiety and for stately clothing.