Jeremiah 22
22
The Lord Judges Evil Kings
1The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Announce my message there. Tell him, 2‘King of Judah, listen to the Lord’s message. You are sitting on David’s throne. You and your officials and your people come through these gates. 3The Lord says, “Do what is fair and right. Save those who have been robbed. Set them free from the people who have treated them badly. Do not do anything wrong to outsiders or widows in this place. Do not harm children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. 4Be careful to obey these commands. Then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace. They will come riding in chariots and on horses. Their officials and their people will come along with them. 5But suppose you do not obey these commands,” announces the Lord. “Then I promise you that this palace will be destroyed. You can be as sure of this promise as you are sure that I live.” ’ ”
6The Lord speaks about the palace of the king of Judah. He says,
“You are like the land of Gilead to me.
You are like the highest mountain in Lebanon.
But I will make you like a desert.
You will become like towns that no one lives in.
7I will send destroyers against you.
All of them will come with their weapons.
They will cut up your fine cedar beams.
They will throw them into the fire.
8“People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ 9And the answer will be, ‘This happened because of what its people have done. They have turned away from the covenant the Lord their God made with them. They have worshiped other gods. And they have served them.’ ”
10Don’t weep over dead King Josiah.
Don’t be sad because he’s gone.
Instead, weep bitterly over King Jehoahaz.
He was forced to leave his country.
He will never return.
He’ll never see his own land again.
11Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father Josiah. But he has gone away from this place. That’s because the Lord says about him, “He will never return. 12He will die in Egypt. That is where he was taken as a prisoner. He will not see this land again.”
13The Lord says, “How terrible it will be for King Jehoiakim!
He builds his palace
by mistreating his people.
He builds its upstairs rooms
with money gained by sinning.
He makes his own people work for nothing.
He does not pay them for what they do.
14He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace.
It will have large rooms upstairs.’
So he makes big windows in it.
He covers its walls with cedar boards.
He decorates it with red paint.
15“Jehoiakim, does having more and more cedar boards
make you a king?
Your father Josiah had enough to eat and drink.
He did what was right and fair.
So everything went well with him.
16He stood up for those who were poor or needy.
So everything went well with him.
That is what it means to know me,”
announces the Lord.
17“Jehoiakim, the only thing on your mind
is to get rich by cheating others.
You would even kill people who are not guilty
of doing anything wrong.
You would mistreat them.
You would take everything they own.”
18So the Lord speaks about King Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. He says,
“His people will not mourn for him.
They will not say,
‘My poor brother! My poor sister!’
They will not mourn for him.
They will not say,
‘My poor master! How sad that his glory is gone!’
19In fact, he will be buried like a donkey.
His body will be dragged away and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.”
20The Lord says, “People of Jerusalem, go up to Lebanon.
Cry out for help.
Let your voice be heard in the land of Bashan.
Cry out from the mountains of Abarim.
All those who were going to help you are crushed.
21When you felt secure, I warned you.
But you said, ‘I won’t listen!’
You have acted like that ever since you were young.
You have not obeyed me.
22The wind will drive away all your shepherds.
All those who were going to help you will be carried off as prisoners.
Then you will be dishonored and put to shame.
That will happen because you have been so sinful.
23Some of you live in Jerusalem in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
You are comfortable in your cedar buildings.
But you will groan when pain comes on you.
It will be like the pain of a woman having a baby.
24“King Jehoiachin, you are the son of Jehoiakim,” announces the Lord. “Suppose you were a ring on my right hand. And suppose the ring even had my royal mark on it. Then I would still pull you off my finger. And that is just as sure as I am alive. 25I will hand you over to those who want to kill you. I will hand you over to people you are afraid of. I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. I will hand you over to his armies. 26I will throw you out into another country. I will throw your mother out. Neither of you was born in that country. But both of you will die there. 27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”
28This man Jehoiachin is like a broken pot.
Everyone hates him. No one wants him.
Why will he and his children be thrown out of this land?
Why will they be sent to a land
they don’t know about?
29Land, land, land,
listen to the Lord’s message!
30The Lord says,
“Let the record say that this man did not have any children.
Let it report that he did not have any success in life.
None of his children will have success either.
None of them will sit on David’s throne.
None of them will ever rule over Judah.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 22: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Jeremiah 22
22
Judgment Against Evil Kings
1This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and prophesy this message there: 2‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, who rules from David’s throne. You and your officers, and your people who come through these gates, listen! 3This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Save the one who has been robbed from the power of his attacker. Don’t mistreat or hurt the foreigners, orphans, or widows. Don’t kill innocent people here. 4If you carefully obey these commands, kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace with their officers and people, riding in chariots and on horses. 5But if you don’t obey these commands, says the Lord, I swear by my own name that this king’s palace will become a ruin.’ ”
6This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives:
“You are tall like the forests of Gilead,
like the mountaintops of Lebanon.
But I will truly make you into a desert,
into towns where no one lives.
7I will send men to destroy the palace,
each with his weapons.
They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.
8“People from many nations will pass by this city and ask each other, ‘Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem, this great city?’ 9And the answer will be: ‘Because the people of Judah quit following the agreement with the Lord their God. They worshiped and served other gods.’ ”
Judgment Against Jehoahaz
10Don’t cry for the dead king or be sad about him.
But cry painfully for the king who is being taken away,
because he will never return
or see his homeland again.
11This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz son of Josiah who became king of Judah after his father died and who has left this place: “He will never return. 12He will die where he has been taken captive, and he will not see this land again.”
Judgment Against Jehoiakim
13“How terrible it will be for one who builds his palace by doing evil,
who cheats people so he can build its upper rooms.
He makes his own people work for nothing
and does not pay them.
14He says, ‘I will build a great palace for myself
with large upper rooms.’
So he builds it with large windows
and uses cedar wood for the walls,
which he paints red.
15“Does having a lot of cedar in your house
make you a great king?
Your father was satisfied to have food and drink.
He did what was right and fair,
so everything went well for him.
16He helped those who were poor and needy,
so everything went well for him.
That is what it means to know God,”
says the Lord.
17“But you only look for and think about
what you can get dishonestly.
You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it.
You feel free to hurt people and to steal from them.”
18So this is what the Lord says to Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
“The people of Judah will not cry when Jehoiakim dies,
saying: ‘Oh, my brother,’ or ‘Oh, my sister.’
They will not cry for him, saying:
‘Oh, master,’ or ‘Oh, my king.’
19They will bury him like a donkey,
dragging his body away
and throwing it outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20“Judah, go up to Lebanon and cry out.
Let your voice be heard in Bashan.
Cry out from Abarim,
because all your friends are destroyed!
21Judah, when you were successful, I warned you,
but you said, ‘I won’t listen.’
You have acted like this since you were young;
you have not obeyed me.
22Like a storm, my punishment will blow all your shepherds away
and send your friends into captivity.
Then you will really be ashamed and disgraced
because of all the wicked things you did.
23King, you live in your palace,
cozy in your rooms of cedar.
But when your punishment comes, how you will groan
like a woman giving birth to a baby!
Judgment upon Jehoiachin
24“As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25I will hand you over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians—those people you fear because they want to kill you. 26I will throw you and your mother into another country. Neither of you was born there, but both of you will die there. 27They will want to come back, but they will never be able to return.”
28Jehoiachin is like a broken pot someone threw away;
he is like something no one wants.
Why will Jehoiachin and his children be thrown out
and sent into a foreign land?
29Land, land, land of Judah,
hear the word of the Lord!
30This is what the Lord says:
“Write this down in the record about Jehoiachin:
He is a man without children,
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
And none of his descendants will be successful;
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule in Judah.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.