Jeremiah 22
1 Thus, said Yahweh, Go thou down to the house of king of Judah, and speak thou there this word,
Thus saith the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Juda, and there thou shalt speak this word,
2 and say—Hear thou the word of Yahweh O king of Judah who sittest upon the throne of David, —thou, and thy servants and thy people who enter in at these gates,
And thou shalt say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest upon the throne of David: thou and thy servants, and thy people, who enter in by these gates.
3 Thus, saith Yahweh, —Execute ye justice, and righteousness, And deliver the robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, —But the sojourner the fatherless, and the widow, do not oppress neither commit violence, And the blood of the innocent, do not ye shed, in this place.
Thus saith the Lord: Execute judgement and justice, and deliver him that is oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor: and afflict not the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, nor oppress them unjustly: and shed not innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye, indeed do, this thing, then shall there enter into the gates of this house—kings, sitting for David upon his throne riding in chariots and on horses, he and his servants, and his people.
For if you will do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house, kings of the race of David sitting upon his throne, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants, and their people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, By myself have I sworn Declareth Yahweh—That, a ruin, shall this house become.
But if you will not hearken to these words: I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For Thus, saith Yahweh Concerning the house of the king of Judah, —Though thou wast Gilead, to me, The summit of Lebanon, Yet surely I will make thee, A wilderness, Cities, not habitable;
For thus saith the Lord to the house of the king of Juda: Thou art to me Galaad the head of Libanus: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities not habitable.
7 And I will hallow against thee Destroyers Every man with his weapons, —And they shall cut down of the choicest of thy cedars, and cast upon the fire.
And I will prepare against thee the destroyer and his weapons: and they shall cut down thy chosen cedars, and shall cast them headlong into the fire.
8 Then shall many nations pass by this city, —and shall say, every man to his neighbour, For what cause, hath Yahweh done thus, unto this great city?
And many nations shall pass by this city: and they shall say every man to his neighbor: Why hath the Lord done so to this great city?
9 And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, their God, —And bowed down to other gods And served them.
And they shall answer: Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and have adored strange gods, and served them.
10 Do not ye lament for him that is dead Neither bemoan ye, him, But weep ye—weep on—for him that is going away, For he shall not return any more Nor see the land of his birth.
Weep not for him that is dead, nor bemoan him with your tears: lament him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For Thus, saith Yahweh—Touching Shallum, son of Josiah king of Judah, That reigneth instead of Josiah his father, Who hath gone forth out of this place, He shall not return thither any more;
For thus saith the Lord to Sellum the son of Josias the king of Juda, who reigned instead of his father, who went forth out of this place: He shall return hither no more:
12 For in the place whither they have taken him captive, There, shall he die, —And this land, shall he see no more.
But in the place, to which I have removed him, there shall he die, and he shall not see this land any more.
13 Alas! for him who buildeth his house without righteousness, And his roof-chambers without justice, —Of his neighbour, taketh service for nought, And recompense for his work, giveth him not.
Woe to him that buildeth up his house by injustice, and his chambers not in judgement: that will oppress his friend without cause, and will not pay him his wages.
14 Who saith—I will build me a roomy house, with spacious roof-chambers, —So he cutteth him open its windows, And it is covered in with cedar, And he painteth it with vermilion.
Who saith: I will build me a wide house and large chambers: who openeth to himself windows, and maketh roofs of cedar, and painteth them with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because, thou, art eager to excel in cedar? Thy father, did he not eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness, And, then, it was well with him?
Shalt thou reign, because thou comparest thyself to the cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and it was then well with him?
16 [Did he not] plead the cause of the oppressed and the needy, And, then, it was well? Was not, that, to know, me? Demandeth Yahweh.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy for his own good: was it not therefore because he knew me, saith the Lord?
17 Verily thou hast neither eyes nor heart, save for thy plundering and for thy shedding of innocent blood, and for oppression and for crushing to do them!
But thy eyes and thy heart are set upon covetousness, and upon shedding innocent blood, and upon oppression, and running after evil works.
18 Therefore—Thus, saith Yahweh, Touching Jehoiakim son of Josiah King of Judah, They shall not cry in lament for him Alas my brother! or Alas sister! They shall not cry in lament for him Alas lord! or Alas! his renown!
Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda: They shall not mourn for him, Alas, my brother, and Alas, sister: they shall not lament for him, Alas, my Lord, or, Alas, the noble one.
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, rotten and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Ascend the Lebanon and make outcry, And in Bashan, put forth thy voice, —And make outcry from Abarim, For all thy lovers are torn in pieces.
Go up to Libanus, and cry: and lift up thy voice in Basan, and cry to them that pass by, for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake unto thee, in thy carelessness, —Thou saidst I will not hearken! This hath been thy way from thy youth, That thou hast not hearkened to my voice.
I spoke to thee in thy properity: and thou saidst: I will not hear: this hath been thy way from thy youth, because thou hast not heard my voice.
22 All thy shepherds, the wind shall feed, And, thy lovers into captivity, shall depart, —Surely, then shalt thou turn pale and be confounded, by reason of all thy wickedness.
The wind shall feed all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: and then shalt thou be confounded, and ashamed of all thy wickedness.
23 O inhabitress of Lebanon that makest thy nest in the cedars, —How hast thou bemoaned thyself Now that pangs have overtaken thee, Anguish, as of her that giveth birth.
Thou that sittest in Libanus, and makest thy nest in the cedars, how hast thou mourned when sorrows came upon thee, as the pains of a woman in labour?
24 As I live, Declareth Yahweh, —Even though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet-ring upon my right hand, yet, from thence, would I pull thee off;
As I live, saith the Lord, if Jechonias the son of Joakim the king of Juda were a ring on my right hand, I would pluck him thence.
25 and I would give thee into the hand of them who seek thy life and into the hand of them from the face of whom, thou dost shrink in fear, —even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans;
And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, and into the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 and I will hurl thee out and thy mother who bare thee, upon another land where ye were not born, —and, there, shall ye die.
And I will send thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a strange country, in which you were not born, and there you shall die:
27 But unto the land whither they shall be lifting up their souls to return, thither, shall they not return.
And they shall not return into the land, whereunto they lift up their mind to return thither.
28 An earthen vessel to be despised thrown about, is this man Coniah? Or an instrument, in which is no pleasure? Wherefore are they to be cast out, he and his seed, and to be thrown forth upon a land which they have not known?
Is this man Jechonias an earthen and a broken vessel? is he a vessel wherein there is no pleasure? why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O land, land, land! Hear thou the word of Yahweh!
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.
30 Thus, saith Yahweh, —Register ye this man, childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days, —For there shall prosper of his seed No man sitting upon the throne of David, Or ruling any more over Judah.
Thus saith the Lord: Write this man barren, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for there shall not be a man of his seed that shall sit upon the throne of David, and have power any more in Juda.
