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.
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Jeremiah 22: NIrV
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Jeremiah 22
22
Jeremiah's Message to the Royal House of Judah
1-2The LORD told me to go to the palace of the king of Judah, the descendant of David, and there tell the king, his officials, and the people of Jerusalem to listen to what the LORD had said: 3“I, the LORD, command you to do what is just and right. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. Do not ill-treat or oppress foreigners, orphans, or widows; and do not kill innocent people in this holy place. 4If you really do as I have commanded, then David's descendants will continue to be kings. And they, together with their officials and their people, will continue to pass through the gates of this palace in chariots and on horses. 5#Mt 23.38; Lk 13.35But if you do not obey my commands, then I swear to you that this palace will fall into ruins. I, the LORD, have spoken.
6“To me, Judah's royal palace is as beautiful as the land of Gilead and as the Lebanon Mountains; but I will make it a desolate place where no one lives. 7I am sending men to destroy it. They will all bring their axes, cut down its beautiful cedar pillars, and throw them into the fire.
8“Afterwards many foreigners will pass by and ask one another why I, the LORD, have done such a thing to this great city. 9Then they will answer that it is because you have abandoned your covenant with me, your God, and have worshipped and served other gods.”
Jeremiah's Message concerning Joahaz
10People of Judah, do not weep for King Josiah;
do not mourn his death.
But weep bitterly for Joahaz, his son;
they are taking him away, never to return,
never again to see the land where he was born.
11 #
2 Kgs 23.31–34; 2 Chr 36.1–4 The LORD says concerning Josiah's son Joahaz, who succeeded his father as king of Judah, “He has gone away from here, never to return. 12He will die in the country where they have taken him, and he will never again see this land.”
Jeremiah's Message concerning Jehoiakim
13Doomed is the man who builds his house by injustice
and enlarges it by dishonesty;
who makes his countrymen work for nothing
and does not pay their wages.
14Doomed is the one who says,
“I will build myself a mansion
with spacious rooms upstairs.”
So he puts windows in his house,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it red.
15Does it make you a better king
if you build houses of cedar,
finer than those of others?
Your father enjoyed a full life.
He was always just and fair,
and he prospered in everything he did.
16He gave the poor a fair trial,
and all went well with him.
That is what it means to know the LORD.
17But you can only see your selfish interests;
you kill the innocent
and violently oppress your people.
The LORD has spoken.
18 #
2 Kgs 23.36—24.6; 2 Chr 36.5–7 So then, the LORD says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
“No one will mourn his death or say,
‘How terrible, my friend, how terrible!’
No one will weep for him or cry,
‘My lord! My king!’
19With the funeral honours of a donkey,
he will be dragged away
and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates.”
Jeremiah's Message about the Fate of Jerusalem
20People of Jerusalem, go to Lebanon and shout,
go to the land of Bashan and cry;
call out from the mountains of Moab,
because all your allies have been defeated.
21The LORD spoke to you when you were prosperous,
but you refused to listen.
That is what you've done all your life;
you never would obey the LORD.
22Your leaders will be blown away by the wind,
your allies taken as prisoners of war,
your city disgraced and put to shame
because of all the evil you have done.
23You rest secure among the cedars brought from Lebanon;
but how pitiful you'll be when pains strike you,
pains like those of a woman in labour.
God's Judgement on Jehoiachin
24 #
2 Kgs 24.8–15; 2 Chr 36.9–10 The LORD said to King Jehoiachin, son of King Jehoiakim of Judah, “As surely as I am the living God, even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off 25and give you to people you are afraid of, people who want to kill you. I will give you to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his soldiers. 26I am going to force you and your mother into exile. You will go to a country where neither of you was born, and both of you will die there. 27You will long to see this country again, but you will never return.”
28I said, “Has King Jehoiachin become like a broken jar that is thrown away and that no one wants? Is that why he and his children have been taken into exile to a land they know nothing about?”
29O land, land, land!
Listen to what the LORD has said:
30“This man is condemned to lose his children,
to be a man who will never succeed.
He will have no descendants
who will rule in Judah
as David's successors.
I, the LORD, have spoken.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.