Jeremiah 22
22
Judgment against wicked kings
1This is what the Lord says: ‘Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2“Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne – you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. 3This is what the Lord says: do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.” ’
6For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:
‘Though you are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
I will surely make you like a wasteland,
like towns not inhabited.
7I will send destroyers against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.
8‘People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 9And the answer will be: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshipped and served other gods.” ’
10Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return
nor see his native land again.
11For this is what the Lord says about Shallum#22:11 Also called Jehoahaz son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: ‘He will never return. 12He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.’
13‘Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying them for their labour.
14He says, “I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.”
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red.
15‘Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
16He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?’
declares the Lord.
17‘But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and extortion.’
18Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
‘They will not mourn for him:
“Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him:
“Alas, my master! Alas, his splendour!”
19He will have the burial of a donkey –
dragged away and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.’
20‘Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
let your voice be heard in Bashan,
cry out from Abarim,
for all your allies are crushed.
21I warned you when you felt secure,
but you said, “I will not listen!”
This has been your way from your youth;
you have not obeyed me.
22The wind will drive all your shepherds away,
and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
because of all your wickedness.
23You who live in “Lebanon,#22:23 That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)”
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain like that of a woman in labour!
24‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘even if you, Jehoiachin#22:24 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin; also in verse 28 son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear – Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.#22:25 Or Chaldeans 26I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.’
28Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no-one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know?
29O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30This is what the Lord says:
‘Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah.’
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Jeremiah 22: NIVUK
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
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Jeremiah 22
22
1 Thus says the Lord: "Descend to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word.
2 And you shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits upon the throne of David: you and your servants, and your people, who enter through these gates.
3 Thus says the Lord: Exercise judgment and justice, and free anyone who is oppressed by violence from the hand of a false accuser. And do not be willing to sadden the new arrival, or the orphan, or the widow, nor should you burden them unfairly. And you shall not shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you will indeed accomplish this word, then there will enter through the gates of this house kings from the stock of David, sitting on his throne, and riding on chariots and on horses: they, and their servants, and their people.
5 But if you will not listen to these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house will be in desolation.
6 For thus says the Lord about the house of the king of Judah: You are to me like Gilead, the head of Lebanon. Certainly, I will make you desolate, with uninhabitable cities.
7 And I will sanctify over you the destroying man and his weapons. And they will cut down your select cedars and throw them violently into the fire.
8 And many nations will pass through this city. And each one will say to his neighbor: 'Why has the Lord acted in this way toward this great city?'
9 And they will answer: 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God, and they adored strange gods and served them.'
10 You should not choose to weep for the dead, nor should you mourn over them with tears. Lament for him who is departing, for he will return no more, nor will he see his native land again.
11 For thus says the Lord to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned in place of his father, who has departed from this place: He will not return here again.
12 Instead, he will die in the place to which I have transferred him, and he will not see this land anymore.
13 Woe to one who builds his house with injustice and his upper rooms without judgment, who oppresses his friend without cause and does not pay him his wages.
14 And he says: 'I will build a broad house for myself, with spacious upper rooms.' He makes windows for himself, and he builds the roof out of cedar, and he paints it with red ocher.
15 Will you reign because you compare yourself to the cedar? Did your father not eat and drink, and act with judgment and justice, so that it would be well with him?
16 He judged the case of the poor and the indigent for their good. Was this not because he knew me, says the Lord?
17 Yet truly, your eyes and your heart are toward avarice and the shedding of innocent blood, and toward false accusations and the pursuit of evil deeds.
18 Because of this, thus says the Lord toward Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him by saying, 'Alas,' to a brother, or, 'Alas,' to a sister. They will not make a noise for him and say, 'Alas,' to a master, or, 'Alas,' to a nobleman.
19 He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, having rotted and been thrown out of the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Ascend to Lebanon and cry out! And utter your voice in Bashan, and cry out to those passing by. For all your lovers have been crushed.
21 I spoke to you in your abundance, and you said, 'I will not listen.' This has been your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my voice.
22 The wind will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. And then you will be confounded, and you will be ashamed of all your wickedness.
23 You who sit in Lebanon, and who nest in the cedars, in what way did you mourn when suffering came to you, like the suffering of a woman giving birth?
24 As I live, says the Lord, if Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a ring on my right hand, I would remove him from there.
25 And I will deliver you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you dread, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will send you, and your mother who conceived you, into a foreign land, in which you were not born, and there you shall die.
27 And to the land about which they lift up their mind, thinking to return there, they shall not return.
28 Is this man, Jeconiah, a broken earthenware vessel? Is he a vessel which is entirely unpleasing? Why have they been cast out, he and his offspring, cast out even into a land that they have not known?
29 O earth, O earth, O earth! Listen to the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord: Write: this man is barren; he is a man who will not prosper in his days. For there will not be a man from among his offspring who will sit upon the throne of David, or have authority in Judah, anymore."
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