Jeremiah 22
22
1Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O King of Judah, who sit on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people. 5#Mt 23.38; Lk 13.35. But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“ ‘You are as Gilead to me,
as the summit of Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city.#22.6 Cn: Heb cities
7I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons;
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars,
and cast them into the fire.
8“ ‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9And they will answer, “Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.” ’ ”
10Weep not for him who is dead,
nor bemoan him;
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
11For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
13“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice;
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing,
and does not give him his wages;
14who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
and cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar,
and painting it with vermilion.
15Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
16He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
says the Lord.
17But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah my brother!’ or ‘Ah sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah lord!’ or ‘Ah his majesty!’
19With the burial of an ass he shall be buried,
dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
21I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your wickedness.
23O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will groan#22.23 Gk Vg Syr: Heb be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in travail!”
24“As I live, says the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
28Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land which they do not know?
29O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days;
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David,
and ruling again in Judah.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Jeremiah 22
22
Judgment Against Evil Kings
1This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Prophesy this message there: 2‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah. You rule from David’s throne. You and your officers, listen well! All of your people who come through these gates, listen! 3This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Protect those who have been robbed from those who robbed them. Don’t do any wrong to the orphans or widows. Don’t hurt them. Don’t kill innocent people here. 4If you carefully obey these commands, this is what will happen: Kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace. They will come with their officers and people. They will all come riding in chariots and on horses. 5But if you don’t obey these commands, this is what the Lord says: I promise in 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:
“This palace is tall like the forests of Gilead.
It is high like the mountains of Lebanon.
But I will truly make it like a desert.
It will be empty like towns where no one lives.
7I will send men to destroy the palace.
Each man will have his weapons with him.
They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams.
And they will throw them into the fire.
8“People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask each other, ‘Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem? This was such a great city.’ 9And the answer will be: ‘It was 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 king who has died. Don’t cry loudly for him.
But cry painfully for the king who is being taken away from here.
Cry for him because he will never come back again.
He will never see his homeland again.
11This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz son of Josiah. Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father died. He has left this place. The Lord says, “He will never come back again. 12He will die where those who captured him have taken him. He will not see this land again.”
Judgment Against Jehoiakim
13“How terrible it will be for him who builds his palace by doing evil.
He cheats people so he can build its upper rooms.
He is making his own people work for nothing.
He is not paying them for their work.
14He says, ‘I will build a great palace for myself.
I will have large upper rooms.’
So he builds the palace with large windows.
He uses cedar wood for the walls.
And he paints it 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’s what it means to know God,” says the Lord.
17“But your eyes only look for what you can get dishonestly.
You are always thinking about getting more for yourself.
You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it.
You are making it hard for people.
You even steal things from them.”
18So this is what the Lord says to Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
“The people of Judah will not cry loudly when Jehoiakim dies.
They will not say, ‘Oh, my brother, I am so sad!
Oh, my sister, I am so sad!’
The people of Judah will not cry for him, saying:
‘Oh, master, oh, my king.’
19The people of Jerusalem will bury him like a donkey.
They will just drag his body away.
Then they will throw 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.
All your friends are destroyed!
21Judah, when you were successful, I warned you.
But you refused to listen.
You have acted like this since you were young.
You have not obeyed me.
22My punishment will come like a storm.
And it will blow all your shepherds away.
Your friends will be taken away as captives.
Then you will really be ashamed.
You will be disgraced because of all the wicked things you did.
23King, you live in your palace.
You are cozy in your rooms of cedar.
But you will groan when your punishment comes.
You will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby!
Judgment upon Jehoiachin
24“As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “I will do this to you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah: Even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25Jehoiachin, I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And I will hand you over to the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of 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. 27You will want to come back. But you 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?
Why will they be thrown into a foreign land?
29Land, land, land of Judah,
hear the word of the Lord!
30This is what the Lord says:
“Write this down about Jehoiachin:
He is a man who is to have no children.
He will not be successful in his lifetime.
And none of his children will be successful.
None of his children will sit on the throne of David.
They will not rule in Judah.”
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