22 The Lord said to me, ‘Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. You must say to him, 2 “King of Judah, descendant of King David, listen to this message from the Lord . Your officers and the people of your palace must listen too. 3 The Lord says: You must do things that are right and fair. Punish those who rob other people. Help the people that they have hurt. Do not be cruel to foreigners who are living among you. Do not cheat them. Do not hurt or cheat widows, or children who have no family. Stop killing people who have not done anything wrong. 4 If you are careful to obey these commands, David's descendants will continue to rule as kings in this city. They will ride on horses and on chariots to come in through the city's gates. Their officers and their people will come with them. 5 But if you do not obey these commands, I will destroy this palace. I promise you that it will become a heap of stones! That is what I, the Lord , tell you.” ’
6 The Lord says this about the palace of the king of Judah:
‘This place is as beautiful as Gilead!
It is as beautiful as Lebanon's mountains.
But I will cause it to become a wilderness,
a place where nobody lives any more.
7 I will send enemies to destroy this place.
They will use their weapons to knock it all down.
They will cut down the strong beams of cedar wood.
They will throw them into the fire.
8 People from many nations will see what has happened here. They will ask each other, “Why has the Lord destroyed this great city?” 9 Other people will answer, “He did it because they refused to obey their covenant with the Lord their God. They worshipped other gods instead of him.” ’
10 Do not weep because the king is dead.
Do not be sad that he no longer lives.
Instead, weep for the king that has gone away.
He will never return to see his own land again. [ b ]
11 Josiah's son, Shallum, became king of Judah after his father died. But enemies took him away as a prisoner to a foreign land. The Lord says this about him: ‘He will never return to this land. 12 He will die in the foreign land where they took him as prisoner. He will not see this land again.’
13 The Lord says,
‘Terrible trouble will happen to this man!
He cheats people
so that he can build a beautiful palace for himself.
He does not do what is right and fair.
He does not pay the people who work for him.
His own men have to work for nothing.
14 He says, “I will build a great palace for myself.
It will have large rooms upstairs.”
He puts windows in its walls.
He covers the walls with cedar wood.
He uses red paint to make it beautiful.
15 Are you better than other kings
because you use more cedar wood to build your palace?
Think about how your father lived.
He did what was right and fair.
He had enough to eat and to drink.
So he was happy with a good life.
16 He did what was right
for people who were poor and helpless.
So people were happy.
That is how people who know me should live.’
That is what the Lord says.
17 ‘But you always want to cheat people,
so that you can get more riches for yourself.
You make plans to kill people who have not done anything wrong.
You hurt people in cruel ways.’
18 So the Lord says this about Josiah's son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:
‘People will not weep when he dies.
They will not say, “I am very sad, my brother.
I am very sad, my sister.”
They will not weep and say,
“What a terrible thing has happened!
Our great king has died!”
19 Instead, they will bury him like a dead donkey.
They will pull his dead body to the city's gate.
They will throw it on the ground outside Jerusalem.’
20 ‘Go up to Lebanon and cry aloud. [ d ]
Shout loudly in Bashan.
Cry aloud from the mountains of Moab.
The nations that were your lovers
have lost their power.
21 When you were feeling strong and safe,
I warned you that this would happen.
But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.”
You have been like that since you were young.
You have never obeyed me.
22 Your leaders will all disappear,
as if a strong wind had blown them away.
Enemies will take your friends away as prisoners.
Then you will feel very ashamed,
because of all the wicked things that you have done.
23 You live safely in beautiful houses
that are made from Lebanon's cedar wood.
But when I punish you, you will cry out with pain.
You will feel pain like a woman who is having a baby.’
24 This is what the Lord says: ‘Jeconiah, king of Judah, son of Jehoiakim, I promise you this, as surely as I live. I will remove your power as king. If you were the special ring of authority on my right hand, I would pull you off! 25 You are afraid of your enemies who want to kill you, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. Now I will let them catch you. 26 I will throw you and your mother out of Judah. I will send you both to a foreign land. You were not born in that land, but you will both die there. 27 You will want to return to this land of Judah, but you will never come back here.’
28 This man Jeconiah will be like a broken pot.
It is a clay pot that nobody wants any more.
He and his children will go as prisoners to a foreign country.
They will live in a country that they do not know.
Why will that happen to them?
29 Listen, people of this land! Listen, people of Judah!
Listen to the Lord 's message!
30 The Lord says,
‘Write this man's name on the list.
Write it as the name of a man who has no children. [ e ]
He will not have success in his life.
None of his sons will rule as a descendant of King David.
None of them will be king of Judah.’
22 The Lord said, “Jeremiah, go down to the king’s palace. Go to the king of Judah and tell this message there: 2 ‘Listen to this message from the Lord , King of Judah. You rule from David’s throne, so listen. King, you and your officials must listen well. All of your people who come through the gates of Jerusalem must listen to the message from the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is right and fair. Protect those who have been robbed from the ones who robbed them. Don’t hurt or do anything wrong to orphans or widows. Don’t kill innocent people. 4 If you obey these commands, kings who sit on David’s throne will continue to come through the gates into the city of Jerusalem. They will come through the gates with their officials. The kings, their officials, and their people will come riding in chariots and on horses. 5 But I, the Lord , tell you that if you don’t obey these commands, then I promise with an oath in my own name that this king’s palace will be destroyed—it will become a pile of rocks.’”
6 This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives:
“The palace is tall like the forests of Gilead,
like the mountains of Lebanon.
But I will make it like a desert,
as empty as a city where no one lives.
7 I will send men to destroy the palace,
each armed with weapons.
They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.
8 “People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem? Jerusalem was such a great city.’ 9 This will be the answer to that question: ‘God destroyed Jerusalem because the people of Judah stopped following the agreement of the Lord their God. They worshiped and served other gods.’”
10 Don’t cry for the king who has died. [ a ]
Don’t cry for him.
But cry very hard for the king
who must leave this place. [ b ]
Cry for him because he will never return
or see his homeland again.
11 This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz [ c ] son of Josiah, who became king of Judah after his father Josiah died: “Jehoahaz has gone away from Jerusalem. He will never return. 12 Jehoahaz will die in the place where the Egyptians have taken him, and he will not see this land again.”
13 “It will be very bad for King Jehoiakim.
He is doing wrong so that he can build his palace.
He is cheating people so that he can build rooms upstairs.
He is not paying his own people.
He is making them work for nothing.
14 “Jehoiakim says,
‘I will build myself a great palace, with huge rooms upstairs.’
So he built it with large windows.
He used cedar wood for paneling, and he painted it red.
15 “Jehoiakim, having a lot of cedar in your house
does not make you a great king.
Your father Josiah was satisfied to have food and drink.
He did what was right and fair,
so everything went well for him.
16 Josiah helped poor and needy people,
so everything went well for him.
Jehoiakim, what does it mean “to know God”?
It means living right and being fair.
That is what it means to know me.
This message is from the Lord .
17 “Jehoiakim, your eyes look only for what benefits yourself.
You are always thinking about getting more for yourself.
You are willing to kill innocent people.
You are willing to steal things from other people.”
18 So this is what the Lord says to King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:
“The people of Judah will not cry for Jehoiakim.
They will not say to each other, ‘Brother, I am so sad!
Sister, I am so sad!’
They will not cry for Jehoiakim.
They will not say about him, ‘Master, I am so sad!
King, I am so sad!’
19 The people of Jerusalem will bury Jehoiakim like a donkey.
They will drag his body away and throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20 “Judah, go up to the mountains of Lebanon and cry out.
Let your voice be heard in the mountains of Bashan.
Cry out in the mountains of Abarim,
because all your ‘lovers’ will be destroyed.
21 “Judah, you felt safe, but I warned you.
I warned you, but you refused to listen.
You have lived like this from the time you were young.
And from the time you were young,
you have not obeyed me, Judah.
22 Judah, the punishment I give will come like a storm,
and it will blow all your shepherds away.
You thought some of the other nations would help you.
But these nations will also be defeated.
Then you will really be disappointed.
You will be ashamed of all the evil things you did.
23 “King, you seem so safe in your palace of cedar.
It’s as if you live in Lebanon! [ d ]
But when your punishment comes, you will groan.
You will be in pain like a woman giving birth!”
24 “As surely as I live,” says the Lord , “I will do this to you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: Even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 Jehoiachin, I will give you to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of. They want to kill you. 26 I will throw you and your mother into another country where neither of you was born. You and your mother will die in that country. 27 Jehoiachin, you will want to come back to your land, but you will never be allowed to come back.”
28 Jehoiachin is like a broken pot that someone threw away.
He is like a pot that no one wants.
Why will Jehoiachin and his children be thrown out
and sent away into a foreign land?
29 Land, land, land of Judah!
Listen to this message from the Lord !
30 The Lord says, “Write this down about Jehoiachin:
‘He does not have children anymore!
Jehoiachin will not be successful
because none of his children will sit on the throne of David.
None of his children will rule in Judah.’”
22 Thus saith the Lord ; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
2 And say, Hear the word of the Lord , O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
3 Thus saith the Lord ; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord , that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith the Lord unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord .
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 As I live, saith the Lord , though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord .
30 Thus saith the Lord , Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and there speak this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord , O king of Judah, who ( A ) sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3 This is what the Lord says: “ ( B ) Do justice and righteousness, and save one who has been robbed from the power of his ( C ) oppressor. And ( D ) do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not ( E ) shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed perform this [ a ] instruction, then ( F ) kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting [ b ] in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, the king himself, his servants, and his people. 5 ( G ) But if you will not obey these words, I ( H ) swear by Myself,” declares the Lord , “that this house will become a place of ruins.”’” 6 For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are like ( I ) Gilead to Me,
Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you a ( J ) wilderness,
Cities that are not inhabited.
7 For I will set apart ( K ) destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will ( L ) cut down your choicest cedars
And ( M ) throw them on the fire.
8 “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will ( N ) say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’ 9 Then they will [ c ] answer, ‘Because they ( O ) abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”
10 ( P ) Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep deeply for the one who goes away;
For ( Q ) he will never return
Or see his native land.
11 For this is what the Lord says regarding [ d ] ( R ) Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: “He will never return there; 12 but in the place where they took him into exile, there he will ( S ) die and he will not see this land again.
13 “Woe to him who builds his house ( T ) without righteousness,
And his upstairs rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay
And ( U ) does not give him his wages,
14 Who says, ‘I will ( V ) build myself a large house
With spacious upstairs rooms,
And cut out its windows,
[ e ] Paneling it with ( W ) cedar and painting it [ f ] bright red.’
15 Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did your father not eat and drink
And ( X ) do justice and righteousness?
Then it was ( Y ) well for him.
16 He pled the cause of the ( Z ) afflicted and the poor,
Then it was well.
( AA ) Is that not what it means to know Me?”
Declares the Lord .
17 “But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own ( AB ) dishonest gain,
And on ( AC ) shedding innocent blood,
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord says regarding ( AD ) Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They will not ( AE ) mourn for him:
‘ ( AF ) Oh, my brother!’ or, ‘Oh, sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
‘Oh, for the master!’ or, ‘Oh, for his splendor!’
19 He will be ( AG ) buried with a donkey’s burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
And raise your voice in Bashan;
Cry out also from ( AH ) Abarim,
For all your ( AI ) lovers have been crushed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity;
But ( AJ ) you said, ‘I will not listen!’
( AK ) This has been your way ( AL ) from your youth,
That you have not obeyed My voice.
22 The wind will sweep away all your ( AM ) shepherds,
And your ( AN ) lovers will go into captivity;
Then you will certainly be ( AO ) ashamed and humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in Lebanon,
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when sharp pains come on you,
( AP ) Pain like a woman in childbirth!
24 “As I live,” declares the Lord , “even if [ g ] ( AQ ) Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a ( AR ) signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull [ h ] you [ i ] off; 25 and I will ( AS ) hand you over to those who are seeking your life, yes, to those of whom you are frightened, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. 26 I will ( AT ) hurl you and your ( AU ) mother who gave birth to you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. 27 But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an ( AV ) undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been ( AW ) hurled out
And cast into a ( AX ) land that they had not known?
29 ( AY ) O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the Lord !
30 This is what the Lord says:
‘Write this man down as ( AZ ) childless,
A man who will ( BA ) not prosper in his days;
For no man among his ( BB ) descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”
22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king ( A ) of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2 ‘Hear ( B ) the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne ( C ) —you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. ( D ) 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just ( E ) and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor ( F ) the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, ( G ) and do not shed innocent blood ( H ) in this place. 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings ( I ) who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5 But if you do not obey ( J ) these commands, declares the Lord , I swear ( K ) by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”
6 For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:
“Though you are like Gilead ( L ) to me,
like the summit of Lebanon, ( M )
I will surely make you like a wasteland, ( N )
like towns not inhabited.
7 I will send destroyers ( O ) against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut ( P ) up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire. ( Q )
8 “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ ( R ) 9 And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods. ( S ) ’”
10 Do not weep for the dead ( T ) king or mourn ( U ) his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return ( V )
nor see his native land again.
11 For this is what the Lord says about Shallum [ a ] ( W ) son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. 12 He will die ( X ) in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”
13 “Woe ( Y ) to him who builds ( Z ) his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying ( AA ) them for their labor.
14 He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace ( AB )
with spacious upper rooms.’
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar ( AC )
and decorates it in red. ( AD )
15 “Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just, ( AE )
so all went well ( AF ) with him.
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy, ( AG )
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know ( AH ) me?”
declares the Lord .
17 “But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain, ( AI )
on shedding innocent blood ( AJ )
and on oppression and extortion.” ( AK )
18 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
“They will not mourn ( AL ) for him:
‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
19 He will have the burial ( AM ) of a donkey—
dragged away and thrown ( AN )
outside the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, ( AO )
let your voice be heard in Bashan, ( AP )
cry out from Abarim, ( AQ )
for all your allies ( AR ) are crushed.
21 I warned you when you felt secure, ( AS )
but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth; ( AT )
you have not obeyed ( AU ) me.
22 The wind ( AV ) will drive all your shepherds ( AW ) away,
and your allies ( AX ) will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced ( AY )
because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in ‘Lebanon, [ b ] ( AZ ) ’
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain ( BA ) like that of a woman in labor!
24 “As surely as I live,” declares the Lord , “even if you, Jehoiachin [ c ] ( BB ) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring ( BC ) on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will deliver ( BD ) you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. [ d ] 26 I will hurl ( BE ) you and the mother ( BF ) who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return ( BG ) to.”
28 Is this man Jehoiachin ( BH ) a despised, broken pot, ( BI )
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled ( BJ ) out,
cast into a land ( BK ) they do not know?
29 O land, ( BL ) land, land,
hear the word of the Lord !
30 This is what the Lord says:
“Record this man as if childless, ( BM )
a man who will not prosper ( BN ) in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring ( BO ) will prosper,
none will sit on the throne ( BP ) of David
or rule anymore in Judah.”
