Jeremiah 22
22
Judgment against Sinful Kings
1This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. 2You are to say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David#2Sm 3:10; 1Kg 2:12,24,45; Is 9:7; Jr 17:25; 22:30; 29:16; 36:30 — you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates. 3This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness.#2Sm 8:15; 1Kg 10:9; 2Ch 9:8; Is 33:5; 59:14; Jr 9:24; 23:5; 33:15; Am 5:7,24 Rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor.#Dt 28:29; Ps 35:10; Ec 4:1; Jr 21:12 Don’t exploit or brutalize the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow.#Dt 14:29; 24:17,19–21; 27:19; Ps 146:9; Jr 7:6; Ezk 22:7 Don’t shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace#Jr 17:25 riding on chariots and horses — they, their officers, and their people. 5But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by myself#Gn 22:16; 1Sm 3:14; Ps 89:3,35; Is 45:23; 54:9; Jr 44:26; 49:13 — this is the Lord’s declaration — that this house will become a ruin.’”#Jr 17:27
6For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are like Gilead#Sg 4:1; Jr 8:22; 46:11; 50:19; Mc 7:14; Zch 10:10 to me,
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.
7I will set apart destroyers#Ex 12:23; 2Sm 24:16; Is 54:16 against 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 the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’ 9They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant#Dt 29:24–25; 1Kg 19:10,14 of the Lord their God and bowed in worship to other gods and served them.’”#Dt 30:17
A Message concerning Shallum
10Do not weep for the dead;
do not mourn for him.
Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,
for he will never return again
and see his native land.#2Sm 12:22–23
11For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum#2Kg 23:32–35; 1Ch 3:15 son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah, and who has left this place: “He will never return here again, 12but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”
A Message concerning Jehoiakim
13Woe for the one who builds his palace
through unrighteousness,#Mc 3:10
his upstairs rooms through injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve without pay
and will not give him his wages,#Lv 19:13; Jms 5:4
14who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,
with spacious upstairs rooms.”
He will cut windows#22:14 Lit my windows in it,
and it will be paneled with cedar#1Kg 6:9,15,18; 7:3,7
and painted bright red.
15Are you a king because you excel in cedar?
Didn’t your father eat and drink
and administer justice and righteousness?#Jr 22:3
Then it went well with him.
16He took up the case of the poor and needy;#Dt 24:14
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
17But you have eyes and a heart for nothing
except your own dishonest profit,
shedding innocent blood
and committing extortion and oppression.#Is 30:12; 59:9–15; Jr 6:6; Ezk 22:7,12,29; Mc 3:11; Hab 1:3
18Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim#2Kg 23:34–24:6; 2Ch 36:4–8 son 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!”
19He will be buried like a donkey,#Jr 36:30
dragged off and thrown
outside Jerusalem’s gates.
20Go up to Lebanon and cry out;
raise your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,#Nm 27:12; Dt 32:49
for all your lovers#22:20 Or friends, or allies, also in v. 22 have been crushed.#Jr 3:1
21I spoke to you when you were secure.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth;#Jr 3:25
indeed, you have never listened to me.
22The wind will take charge of#22:22 Lit will shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers will go into captivity.
Then you will be ashamed and humiliated#Is 41:11
because of all your evil.
23You residents of Lebanon,
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groan#22:23 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads will be pitied when pains come on you,
agony like a woman in labor.#Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 21:3; 42:14; Jr 4:31; 6:24; 13:21; 30:6; 50:43; Mc 4:9–10; 1Th 5:3
A Message concerning Coniah
24“As I live” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “though you, Coniah#22:24 = Jehoiachin#2Kg 24:6–17; Jr 37:1; 52:31 son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring#Gn 38:18; 1Kg 21:8; Hg 2:23 on my right hand, I would tear you from it. 25In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread,#Jr 34:20–21 who intend to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. 26I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth#2Kg 24:15 to you into another land,#2Kg 24:8 where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. 27They will never return to the land they long to return to.”
28Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot,#Ps 31:12; Jr 48:38; Hs 8:8
a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his descendants hurled out
and cast into a land they have not known?
29Earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the Lord!
30This is what the Lord says:
Record this man as childless,#1Ch 3:17; Mt 1:12
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
None of his descendants will succeed
in sitting on the throne of David#Jr 36:30
or ruling again in Judah.
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Jeremiah 22: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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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