Judgment against Sinful Kings
1 This is what theLordsays: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.
2 You are to say: Hear the word of theLord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David— you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates.
3 This is what theLordsays: Administer justice and righteousness.Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor.Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palaceriding on chariots and horses — they, their officers, and their people.
5 But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself” — this is theLord’s declaration — “that this house will become a ruin.”
6 For this is what theLordsays concerning the house of the king of Judah:
You are like Gileadto Me,
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.
7 I will appoint destroyersagainst you,
each with his weapons.
They will cut down the choicest of your cedars
and throw them into the fire.
8 “Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did theLorddo such a thing to this great city? ’
9 They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenantof Yahweh their God and worshiped and served other gods.’ ”
A Message Concerning Shallum
10 Do not weep for the dead;
do not mourn for him.
Weep bitterly for the onewho has gone away,
for he will never return again
and see his native land.
11 For this is what theLordsays concerning Shallumson of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place — he will never return here again,
12 but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”
A Message concerning Jehoiakim
13 Woe for the one who builds his palace
through unrighteousness,
his upper rooms through injustice,
who makes his fellow man serve without pay
and will not give him his wages,
14 who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,
with spacious upper rooms.”
He will cut windowsin it,
and it will be paneled with cedar
and painted with vermilion.
15 Are you a king because you excel in cedar?
Didn’t your father eat and drink
and administer justice and righteousness?
Then it went well with him.
16 He took up the case of the poor and needy,
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is theLord’s declaration.
17 But you have eyes and a heart for nothing
except your own dishonest profit,
shedding innocent blood
and committing extortion and oppression.
18 Therefore, this is what theLordsays concerning Jehoiakimson of Josiah, king of Judah:
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, my brother! ” or “Woe, my sister! ”
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty! ”
19 He will be buried like a donkey,
dragged off and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out;
raise your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovershave been crushed.
21 I spoke to you when you were secure.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth;
indeed, you have never listened to Me.
22 The wind will take charge ofall your shepherds,
and your loverswill go into captivity.
Then you will be ashamed and humiliated
because of all your evil.
23 You residents of Lebanon,
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groanwhen labor pains come on you,
agony like a woman in labor.
A Message concerning Coniah
24 “As I live,” says theLord, “though you, Coniahson of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ringon My right hand, I would tear you from it.
25 In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread,who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.
26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave birthto you into another land,where neither of you were born, and there you will both die.
27 They will never return to the land they long to return to.”
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot,
a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his descendants hurled out
and cast into a land they have not known?
29 Earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of theLord!
30 This is what theLordsays:
Record this man as childless,
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
None of his descendants will succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
or ruling again in Judah.
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JER/22-f803c46e6abc6281bea9be272502b9d4.mp3?version_id=72—