Jeremiah 22
1 Thus said Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak these words.
Thus saith the Lord; Go thou, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and thou shalt speak there this word,
2 Hear the word of Jehovah, thou king of Judah, That sittest upon the throne of David, Thou, and thy servants, and thy people, Who go in and out through these gates!
and thou shalt say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest on the throne of David, thou, and thy house, and thy people, and they that go in at these gates:
3 Thus saith Jehovah: Do justice and righteousness; Deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; To the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow Do no wrong, do no violence, And shed no innocent blood in this place!
thus saith the Lord; Execute ye 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 For if ye shall do this, Then shall there enter in through the gates of this house Kings, who shall sit upon the throne of David, Riding in chariots and upon horses, Each one with his servants and his people.
For if ye 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 hearken to these words, By myself do I swear, saith Jehovah, That this house shall become a desolation.
But if ye will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that this house shall be [brought] to desolation.
6 For thus saith Jehovah to the house of the king of Judah: Gilead art thou to me, yea, the summit of Lebanon; Yet will I make thee a desert, As cities not inhabited.
For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; Thou art Galaad to me, [and] the head of Libanus: [yet] surely I will make thee a desert, [even] cities that shall not be inhabited:
7 I will appoint against thee destroyers, Every one with his weapons; And they shall cut down thy choice cedars, And cast them into the fire.
and I will bring upon thee a destroying man, and his axe: 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 one to another, “Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to 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 answer: “Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God, And worshipped strange 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 him that is dead, Make no lamentation for him! Weep, weep ye for him who is gone away; For he shall return no more, Nor see his native land!
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 saith Jehovah Concerning Shallum, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, Who reigned instead of Josiah his father, Who went forth from this place: He shall return to it no more;
For thus saith 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 thither any more:
12 But in the place whither they have led him captive shall he die, And shall see this land no more.
but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe to him that buildeth his house with injustice, And his upper apartments with wrong; That exacteth a man's service without wages, And giveth him no recompense!
He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment, 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 large house, And spacious apartments,” And that cutteth out windows, And ceileth it with cedar, And painteth it with vermilion!
Thou hast built for thyself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign because thou rivallest others in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink? Yet he had regard to justice and equity; Therefore it was well, with him.
Shalt thou reign, because thou art provoked with thy father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for thee to execute judgment and justice.
16 He maintained the cause of the poor and needy; Then was it well with him; Was not this to know me, saith Jehovah?
They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this thy not knowing me? saith the Lord.
17 But thine eyes and thy heart are only upon thine own gain, And the shedding of innocent blood, And deeds of violence and oppression.
Behold, thine eyes are not good, nor thine heart, but [they go] after thy covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.
18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, 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 glory!”
Therefore thus saith 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 along 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 Go thou up to Lebanon and cry, [[O Jerusalem!]] And upon Bashan lift up thy voice; Cry aloud from Abarim! For all thy lovers are fallen.
Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter thy voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake to thee in thy prosperity, But thou saidst, “I will not hear.” This hath been thy manner from thy youth; Thou hast not obeyed my voice.
I spoke to thee on [occasion of] thy trespass, but thou saidst, I will not hearken. This [has been] thy way from thy youth, thou hast not hearkened to my voice.
22 The wind shall consume all thy shepherds, And thy lovers shall go into captivity; Then shalt thou be ashamed And confounded for all thy wickedness.
The wind shall tend all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; for then shalt thou be ashamed and disgraced because of all thy lovers.
23 O thou that dwellest in Lebanon, That makest thy nest in cedars, How wretched shalt thou be, when anguish cometh upon thee, Pain, as of a woman in travail!
O thou that dwellest in Libanus, making thy nest in the cedars, thou shalt groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon thee.
24 As I live, saith Jehovah, Thou Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Though thou wert the signet upon my right hand, Even thence would I pluck thee!
[As] I live, saith the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck thee;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, And into the hand of them that thou fearest, Even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldaeans.
and I will deliver thee into the hands of them that seek thy life, before whom thou art afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee forth, And thy mother that bore thee, Into a foreign land, Where ye were not born; And there shall ye die.
And I will cast forth thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a land where thou wast not born; and there ye shall die.
27 To the land to which they desire 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 then this man Coniah a contemptible broken vessel? Is he a vessel which no man careth for? Wherefore are he and his offspring cast forth, And thrown 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 Jehovah!
Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.
30 Thus saith Jehovah: Write ye this man childless, A man that shall not be prosperous through his life; For none of his offspring shall prosper, So as to sit on the throne of David, And reign hereafter in Judah.
Write ye 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.
