Jeremiah 22
22
The Lord Will Punish the King of Judah
1-3The Lord sent me to the palace of the king of Judah to speak to the king, his officials, and everyone else who was there. The Lord told me to say:
I am the Lord, so pay attention! You have been allowing people to cheat, rob, and take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners who live here. Innocent people have become victims of injustice, and some of them have even been killed. But now I command you to do what is right and see that justice is done. Rescue everyone who has suffered from injustice.
4If you obey me, the kings from David's family will continue to rule Judah from this palace. They and their officials will ride in and out on their horses or in their chariots. 5#Mt 23.28; Lk 13.35. But if you ignore me, I promise in my own name that this palace will lie in ruins. 6Listen to what I think about it:
The palace of Judah's king
is as glorious as Gilead
or Lebanon's highest peaks.
But it will be as empty
as a ghost-town
when I'm through with it.
7I'll send troops to tear it apart,
and its beautiful cedar beams
will be used for firewood.
8People from different nations will pass by and ask, “Why did the Lord do this to such a great city as Jerusalem?” 9Others will answer, “It's because the people worshiped foreign gods and broke the agreement that the Lord their God had made with them.”
King Jehoahaz
The Lord said:
10King Josiah is dead,
so don't mourn for him.#22.10 King Josiah … him: The Hebrew text has “don't mourn for the dead one,” meaning King Josiah, who ruled 640–609 b.c.
Instead, mourn for his son
King Jehoahaz,
dragged off to another country,#22.10 his son King Jehoahaz … country: The Hebrew text has “the one who was dragged off to another country,” meaning King Jehoahaz, who ruled for three months in 609 b.c.
never to return.
11-12 #
2 K 23.31-34; 2 Ch 36.1-4. Jehoahaz#22.11,12 Jehoahaz: The Hebrew text has “Shallum,” another name for Jehoahaz. became king of Judah after his father King Josiah died. But Jehoahaz was taken as a prisoner to a foreign country. Now I, the Lord, promise that he will die there without ever seeing his own land again.
King Jehoiakim
The Lord told me to say:
* 13King Jehoiakim,#22.13 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. you are doomed!
You built a palace
with large rooms upstairs.
14You put in big windows
and used cedar paneling
and red paint.
But you were unfair
and forced the builders to work
without pay.
* 15More cedar in your palace
doesn't make you a better king
than your father Josiah.
He always did right—
he gave justice to the poor
and was honest.
16That's what it means
to truly know me.
So he lived a comfortable life
and always had enough
to eat and drink.
17But all you think about
is how to cheat
or abuse or murder
some innocent victim.
18 #
2 K 23.36—24.6; 2 Ch 36.5-7. Jehoiakim, no one will mourn
at your funeral.
They won't turn to each other
and ask,
“Why did our great king
have to die?”
19You will be given a burial
fit for a donkey;
your body will be dragged
outside the city gates
and tossed in the dirt.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
King Jehoiachin and the People of Jerusalem
The Lord told me to say:
20People of Jerusalem,
the nations#22.20 nations: Or “gods.” you trusted
have been crushed.
Go to Lebanon and weep;
cry in the land of Bashan
and in Moab.
21When times were good,
I warned you.
But you ignored me,
just as you have done
since Israel was young.
22Now you will be disgraced
because of your sins.
Your leaders will be swept away
by the wind,
and the nations you trusted
will be captured and dragged
to a foreign country.
23Those who live in the palace
paneled with cedar#22.23 who live in the palace paneled with cedar: The Hebrew text has “who live in Lebanon and who nest among the cedars,” which probably means Forest Hall in the royal palace at Jerusalem, which was paneled with cedar and had cedar columns and a cedar ceiling, all from Lebanon (see 1 Kings 7.2,3).
will groan with pain
like women giving birth.
24 #
2 K 24.8-15; 2 Ch 36.9,10. King Jehoiachin,#22.24 Jehoiachin: The Hebrew text has “Coniah,” another form of Jehoiachin's name; he ruled for three months in 598 b.c. son of Jehoiakim,#22.24 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. even if you were the ring I wear as the sign of my royal power, I would still pull you from my finger. 25I would hand you over to the enemy you fear, to King Nebuchadnezzar#22.25 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. and his army, who want to kill you. 26You and your mother#22.26 mother: See the note at 13.18. were born in Judah, but I will throw both of you into a foreign country, where you will die, 27longing to return home.
28Jehoiachin, you are unwanted
like a broken clay pot.
So you and your children
will be thrown into a country
you know nothing about.
29Land of Judah, I am the Lord.
Now listen to what I say!
30Erase the names
of Jehoiachin's children
from the royal records.
He is a complete failure,
and so none of them
will ever be king.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
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Jeremiah 22: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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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