Jeremias 22

1 Thus says the Lord; Go you, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and you shall speak there this word,

Thus said the LORD: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2 and you shall say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sit on the throne of David, you, and your house, and your people, and they that go in at these gates:

Say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.

3 thus says the Lord; Execute you judgement and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him: and oppress not the stranger, and orphan, and widow, and sin not, and shed no innocent blood in this place.

Thus says the LORD: "Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.

4 For if you will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they, and their servants, and their people.

For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

5 But if you will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, says the Lord, that this house shall be [brought] to desolation.

But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation."

6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; You are Galaad to me, [and] the head of Libanus: [yet] surely I will make you a desert, [even] cities that shall not be inhabited:

For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

7 and I will bring upon you a destroying man, and his axe: and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.

I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons; and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

8 And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbour, Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?

Many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this great city?'

9 And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them.

Then they shall answer, 'Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.'

10 Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.

Do not weep for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country."

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Sellem the son of Josias, who reigns in the place of Josias his father, who has gone forth out of this place; He shall not return there any more:

For thus says the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: "He shall not return there any more.

12 but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.

But in the place where they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more."

13 He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgement, who works by means of his neighbour for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward.

Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor's service without wages, and doesn't give him his hire;

14 You have built for yourself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

who says, "I will build me a wide house and spacious rooms," and cuts him out windows; and it is ceiling with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

15 Shall you reign, because you are provoked with your father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for you to execute judgement and justice.

Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

16 They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this your not knowing me? says the Lord.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this to know me?' says the LORD.

17 Behold, your eyes are not good, nor your heart, but [they go] after your covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.

"But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it."

18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man; they shall not bewail him, [saying], Ah brother! neither shall they at all weep for him, [saying], Alas Lord.

Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "they shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas my brother. or, Alas sister.' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas lord.' or, 'Alas his majesty.'

19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem.

He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter your voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all your lovers are destroyed.

Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers are destroyed.

21 I spoke to you on [occasion of] your trespass, but you said, I will not listen. This [has been] your way from your youth, you have not listened to my voice.

I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, 'I will not hear.' This has been your way from your youth, that you did not obey my voice.

22 The wind shall tend all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; for then shall you be ashamed and disgraced because of all your lovers.

The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.

23 O you that dwell in Libanus, making your nest in the cedars, you shall groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon you.

Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly you will groan when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail.

24 [As] I live, says the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck you;

As I live," says the LORD, "though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you there;

25 and I will deliver you into the hands of them that seek your life, before whom you are afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.

and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will cast forth you, and your mother that bore you, into a land where you were not born; and there you shall die.

I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country, where you were not born; and there you will die.

27 But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls.

But to the land whereunto their soul longs to return, there shall they not return."

28 Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not.

Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which none delights? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, and cast into a land that they do not know?

29 Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.

O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

30 Write you this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, [or as] a prince yet in Juda.

Thus says the LORD, "Write this man down childless, a man who will not succeed in his days; for none of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.