Jeremiah 22

1 Thus said the Lord, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word;

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 And thou shalt 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:

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 Thus hath said the Lord, Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor; and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow shall ye not oppress, and do them no violence, and shed no innocent blood in this place.

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.

4 For if ye indeed will do this thing, then shall enter in through the gates of this house kings sitting after David upon his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

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 ye will not hear these words, then do I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a ruin.

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 For thus hath said the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah, A Gil'ad [though] thou art unto me, a summit of the Lebanon: yet I will surely change thee into a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

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 And I will make ready against thee destroyers, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down the choice of thy cedars, and cast them into 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 And [when] many nations [then] pass by this city, they will say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done the like unto this great city?

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

9 Then shall they say, Because they had forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and bowed down unto other gods, and served them.

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

10 Weep not for the dead, and do not bemoan him: weep sorely for him that goeth away; for he shall never return any more, and see the land of his birth.

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 For thus hath said the Lord respecting Shallum the son of Josiah the king of Judah, who reigneth in the place of Josiah his father, who is gone forth out of this place, He shall never return thither any more;

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 But in the place whither they have led him into exile, there shall he die; but this land shall he not see any more.

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

13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that maketh his neighbor work without wages, and giveth him not the reward for his labor;

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.

14 That saith, I will build me a roomy house, and ample chambers, and cutteth himself out windows, and ceileth it with cedar, and painteth it with colors.

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

15 Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel with cedar buildings? behold, thy father ate and drank, but he executed justice and righteousness: then was it well with him!

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.

16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then was it well: is not this the proper knowledge of me? saith 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 thy eyes and thy heart are directed on nothing but upon thy own gain, and upon innocent blood to shed it, and upon oppression, and upon extortion, to practise them.

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 Therefore thus hath said the Lord concerning Jehoyakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah, They shall not lament for him, with, “Woe, my brother!” and, “Woe, sister!” they shall not lament for him, with “Woe, lord!” and, “Woe, to his glory!”

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 With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, dragged about and cast forth beyond 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 Ascend the Lebanon, and cry aloud; and let thy voice resound in Bashan; and cry aloud from 'Aharim; for crushed are all thy lovers.

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 spoke unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy very youth, that thou didst not hearken to my voice.

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 shall scatter abroad all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded because of all thy wickedness.

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 O inhabitress of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how full of grace wilt thou be! when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

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 As I live, saith the Lord, though Conyahu the son of Jehoyakim the king of Judah were a signet upon my right hand, yet for a surety would I thence pluck thee;

[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 And I will give thee into the hand of those that seek thy life, and into the hand of those of whom thou art afraid, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

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 And I will hurl thee out, and thy mother that hath born thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

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 But to the land whitherward they direct their soul to return, thither shall they not return.

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

28 Is this man Conyahu a despised broken image? or a vessel without value? wherefore are they hurled out, he and his seed, and are cast forth into a land which they know not?

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

29 O land, land, land! hear the word of the Lord.

Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.

30 Thus hath said the Lord, Write ye down this man as childless, as a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall succeed to sit upon the throne of David, and to rule any more 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.