Jeremiah 22
1 Thus said the Lord, Goe downe to the house of the King of Iudah, and speake there this thing,
This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,
2 And say, Heare the worde of the Lord, O King of Iudah, that sittest vpon the throne of Dauid, thou and thy seruants, and thy people that enter in by these gates.
saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you and your officials and your people who enter these gates.
3 Thus saith the Lord, Execute ye iudgement and righteousnes, and deliuer the oppressed from the hande of the oppressor, and vexe not the stranger, the fatherlesse, nor the widowe: doe no violence, nor sheade innocent blood in this place.
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing, then shall the kings sitting vpon the throne of Dauid enter in by the gates of this House, and ride vpon charets, and vpon horses, both he and his seruants and his people.
For if you will indeed carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace riding on chariots and horses—they and their officials and their people.
5 But if ye will not heare these wordes, I sweare by my selfe, saith the Lord, that this House shalbe waste.
But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that this house will become a pile of rubble.’”
6 For thus hath the Lord spoken vpon the Kings house of Iudah, Thou art Gilead vnto me, and the head of Lebanon, yet surely I wil make thee a wildernes and as cities not inhabited,
For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a desert, like cities that are uninhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, euery one with his weapons, and they shall cut downe thy chiefe cedar trees, and cast them in the fire.
I will appoint destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut down the choicest of your cedars and throw them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall passe by this citie, and they shall say euery man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus vnto this great citie?
And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
9 Then shall they answere, Because they haue forsaken the couenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and serued them.
Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”
10 Weepe not for the dead, and be not moued for them, but weepe for him that goeth out: for he shall returne no more, nor see his natiue countrey.
Do not weep for the dead king; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for the one who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.
11 For thus saith ye Lord, As touching Shallum the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah, which reigned for Iosiah his father, which went out of this place, he shall not returne thither,
For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,
12 But he shall die in the place, whither they haue ledde him captiue, and shall see this lande no more.
but he will die in the place to which he was exiled; he will never see this land again.”
13 Wo vnto him that buildeth his house by vnrighteousnesse, and his chambers without equitie: he vseth his neighbour without wages, and giueth him not for his worke.
“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
14 He saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers: so he will make him selfe large windowes, and feeling with cedar, and paint them with vermilion.
who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reigne, because thou closest thy selfe in cedar? did not thy father eate and drinke and prosper, when he executed iudgement and iustice?
Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.
16 When he iudged the cause of the afflicted and the poore, he prospered: was not this because he knewe me, saith the Lord?
He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are but only for thy couetousnesse, and for to sheade innocent blood, and for oppression, and for destruction, euen to doe this.
“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
18 Therefore thus saith the Lord against Iehoiakim, the sonne of Iosiah king of Iudah, They shall not lament him, saying, Ah, my brother, or ah, sister: neither shall they mourne for him, saying, Ah, lord, or ah, his glorie.
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
19 He shalbe buryed, as an asse is buryed, euen drawen and cast foorth without the gates of Ierusalem.
He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Goe vp to Lebanon, and cry: showte in Bashan and crye by the passages: for all thy louers are destroyed.
Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed.
21 I spake vnto thee when thou wast in prosperitie: but thou saidest, I will not heare: this hath bene thy maner from thy youth, that thou wouldest not obey my voyce.
I warned you when you were secure. You said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from youth, that you have not obeyed My voice.
22 The wind shall feede all thy pastors, and thy louers shall goe into captiuitie: and then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded of al thy wickednesse.
The wind will drive away all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.
23 Thou that dwellest in Lebanon, and makest thy nest in the cedars, howe beautiful shalt thou be when sorowes come vpon thee, as the sorowe of a woman in trauaile?
O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
24 As I liue, saith the Lord, though Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim King of Iudah, were the signet of my right hand, yet would I plucke thee thence.
“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
25 And I will giue thee into the hande of them that seeke thy life, and into the hande of them, whose face thou fearest, euen into the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar king of Babel, and into the hande of the Caldeans.
In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cause them to cary thee away, and thy mother that bare thee, into another countrey, where ye were not borne, and there shall ye die.
I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another land, where neither of you were born—and there you both will die.
27 But to the lande, whereunto they desire to returne, they shall not returne thither.
You will never return to the land for which you long.”
28 Is not this man Coniah as a despised and broken idole? or as a vessell, wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they caryed away, hee and his seede, and cast out into a lande that they knowe not?
Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot, a jar that no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they do not know?
29 O earth, earth, earth, heare the worde of the Lord.
O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
30 Thus saith the Lord, Write this man destitute of children, a man that shall not prosper in his dayes: for there shall be no man of his seede that shall prosper and sit vpon the throne of Dauid, or beare rule any more in Iudah.
This is what the LORD says: “Enroll this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime. None of his descendants will prosper to sit on the throne of David or to rule again in Judah.”
