Jeremiah 22

1 This is what the Lord says: Go to the palace of the king of Judah and give this message.

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

2 Tell them: Listen to what the Lord has to say to you, king of Judah, sitting on the throne of David, you and your officials and the people here with you.

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:

3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Protect those who are being unjustly treated by corrupt people. Don't do anything wrong to foreigners, orphans, or the widows. Don't use violence against them. Don't kill innocent people.

thus says the Lord; Execute you judgment 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.

4 If you will honestly do what I tell you, then kings who sit on David's throne will ride on chariots and horses with their officials through the gates of this palace. They'll be accompanied by the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem.

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.

5 But if you refuse to obey what I say, then I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this palace will be turned into rubble.

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

6 This is what the Lord says about the royal family of the king of Judah: You are as dear to me as the forests on Gilead and on the mountains of Lebanon. But I will turn you into a desert, into towns where no one lives.

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:

7 I will choose men to come and destroy you, each with their own ax. They will chop down your fine cedars and throw them in the fire.

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.

8 Foreigners from many nations will pass by this city and ask each another, “Why has the Lord done such terrible things to this great city?”

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

9 People will answer, “Because they broke the agreement of the Lord their God. They went and worshiped other gods.”

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

10 Don't weep over the king that died. Don't mourn for him. Instead weep for the king who is exiled, who will never return, who will never see his homeland again.

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.

11 This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz of Josiah, king of Judah. He succeeded his father Josiah but was taken away. He will never return.

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:

12 He will die in exile; he will never see this country again.

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

13 Trouble is coming to Jehoiakim because he mistreats others in building his palace, by dealing unfairly with those constructing the upper floors. He makes his own people work for nothing—he doesn't pay them any wages.

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

14 He says to himself, “I'm going to build myself a great palace, with large upper rooms.” He has windows inserted, puts in cedar panels, and paints it bright red with vermilion.

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

15 Does it make you a king just because you have more cedar than anyone else? Your father had food and drink, didn't he? He ruled fairly and honestly, and he had a good life because of this.

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 judgment and justice.

16 He defended the poor and those in need, and so things went well. Isn't this what knowing me really means? declares the Lord.

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.

17 But all you're looking for, all you think about, is getting whatever you want, however dishonestly. You kill the innocent, you violently mistreat and exploit your people.

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.

18 So this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: They won't mourn for him, saying: “How sad, my brother! How sad my sister!” They won't mourn for him, saying: “How sad, my lord! How sad, his majesty!”

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.

19 His burial will be that of a donkey. He'll be dragged off and thrown away outside the gates of Jerusalem.

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

20 Go to Lebanon and cry for help! Shout in Bashan! Scream from Abarim! For all your lovers have been destroyed.

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.

21 I warned you when you thought you were safe and sound. But you replied, “I'm not going to listen!” That's been your attitude since you were young—you never did what I told you.

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.

22 The wind will blow away all your “shepherds,” and your lovers will go into exile. Then you will be shamed and disgraced because of all the evil things you've done.

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.

23 You who live in “Lebanon” in your cedar nest, how much you're going to groan when agonizing pains hit you like a woman in labor.

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.

24 The Lord said to Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: As I live, declares the Lord, even if you were a signet ring on a finger of my right hand, I would pull you off.

[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;

25 I'm going to hand you over to those who terrify you and who want to kill you, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the Babylonians.

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.

26 I'm going to throw you out—you and the mother who gave birth to you—sending you to another country. Neither of you were born there, but both of you will die there.

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.

27 You won't ever return to the country you love so much.

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

28 Who is this man Jehoiachin? A broken pot that's been thrown away, something nobody wants? Why has he and his children been thrown out, exiled in an unfamiliar country?

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

29 My country, my country, my country! Listen to what the Lord has to say!

Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.

30 This is what the Lord says: Put this man down as having no children. He's a man who won't ever be successful in his whole life. None of his children will ever be successful either. None of them will sit on David's throne or be king in Judah.

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.