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This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
Isaiah 22:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
  • KJV The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
  • NKJV The burden against the Valley of Vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
  • NASB The pronouncement concerning the valley of vision: What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
  • NLT This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops?

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

An oracle against Jerusalem, the 'valley of vision,' rebukes its misplaced reveling. It matters because God's own city is now under judgment for failing to trust him.

Overview

The 'valley of vision' is Jerusalem, the place where God revealed himself yet which now faces rebuke. The people have gone up to the rooftops in alarm or celebration rather than in repentance. Isaiah turns his prophetic burden from foreign nations to God's own people. The chapter exposes the deeper danger of false security and unbelief within the covenant community.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • Jer 21:13Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
  • Ps 125:2As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.
  • Isa 15:3In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.
  • Joel 3:12Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.
  • Joel 3:14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
  • Isa 13:1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
  • Judg 18:23When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”
  • Jer 48:38On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.
  • Prov 29:18Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.
  • Ps 114:5Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,
  • 1 Sam 11:5Just then Saul was returning from the field, behind his oxen. “What troubles the people?” asked Saul. “Why are they weeping?” And they relayed to him the words of the men from Jabesh.
  • 1 Sam 3:1And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce.
  • Ps 147:19–20He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.
  • Mic 3:6Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
  • Deut 22:8If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
  • Rom 3:2Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
  • Gen 21:17Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.
  • Rom 9:4–5the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.
  • 2 Sam 14:5“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.
  • 2 Kgs 6:28Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 22:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 22:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.