Jeremiah 22
22
Judgment Against Evil Kings
1The Lord said, “Jeremiah, go down to the king’s palace. Go to the king of Judah and tell this message there: 2‘Listen to this message from the Lord, King of Judah. You rule from David’s throne, so listen. King, you and your officials must listen well. All of your people who come through the gates of Jerusalem must listen to the message from the Lord. 3This is what the Lord says: Do what is right and fair. Protect those who have been robbed from the ones who robbed them. Don’t hurt or do anything wrong to orphans or widows. Don’t kill innocent people. 4If you obey these commands, kings who sit on David’s throne will continue to come through the gates into the city of Jerusalem. They will come through the gates with their officials. The kings, their officials, and their people will come riding in chariots and on horses. 5But I, the Lord, tell you that if you don’t obey these commands, then I promise with an oath in my own name that this king’s palace will be destroyed—it will become a pile of rocks.’”
6This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives:
“The palace is tall like the forests of Gilead,
like the mountains of Lebanon.
But I will make it like a desert,
as empty as a city where no one lives.
7I will send men to destroy the palace,
each armed with weapons.
They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams
and 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 terrible thing to Jerusalem? Jerusalem was such a great city.’ 9This will be the answer to that question: ‘God destroyed Jerusalem because the people of Judah stopped following the agreement of the Lord their God. They worshiped and served other gods.’”
Judgment Against King Jehoahaz
10Don’t cry for the king who has died.#22:10 the king who has died That is, King Josiah who was killed in battle against the Egyptians in 609 B.C.
Don’t cry for him.
But cry very hard for the king
who must leave this place.#22:10 the king … place This means Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz. He became king after Josiah died. He is also called Shallum. King Neco of Egypt defeated Josiah. And Neco took Jehoahaz off the throne of Judah and made him a prisoner in Egypt.
Cry for him because he will never return
or see his homeland again.
11This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz#22:11 Jehoahaz The Hebrew text has “Shallum,” another name for Jehoahaz. son of Josiah, who became king of Judah after his father Josiah died: “Jehoahaz has gone away from Jerusalem. He will never return. 12Jehoahaz will die in the place where the Egyptians have taken him, and he will not see this land again.”
Judgment Against King Jehoiakim
13“It will be very bad for King Jehoiakim.
He is doing wrong so that he can build his palace.
He is cheating people so that he can build rooms upstairs.
He is not paying his own people.
He is making them work for nothing.
14“Jehoiakim says,
‘I will build myself a great palace, with huge rooms upstairs.’
So he built it with large windows.
He used cedar wood for paneling, and he painted it red.
15“Jehoiakim, having a lot of cedar in your house
does not make you a great king.
Your father Josiah was satisfied to have food and drink.
He did what was right and fair,
so everything went well for him.
16Josiah helped poor and needy people,
so everything went well for him.
Jehoiakim, what does it mean “to know God”?
It means living right and being fair.
That is what it means to know me.
This message is from the Lord.
17“Jehoiakim, your eyes look only for what benefits yourself.
You are always thinking about getting more for yourself.
You are willing to kill innocent people.
You are willing to steal things from other people.”
18So this is what the Lord says to King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:
“The people of Judah will not cry for Jehoiakim.
They will not say to each other, ‘Brother, I am so sad!
Sister, I am so sad!’
They will not cry for Jehoiakim.
They will not say about him, ‘Master, I am so sad!
King, I am so sad!’
19The people of Jerusalem will bury Jehoiakim like a donkey.
They will drag his body away and throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20“Judah, go up to the mountains of Lebanon and cry out.
Let your voice be heard in the mountains of Bashan.
Cry out in the mountains of Abarim,
because all your ‘lovers’ will be destroyed.
21“Judah, you felt safe, but I warned you.
I warned you, but you refused to listen.
You have lived like this from the time you were young.
And from the time you were young,
you have not obeyed me, Judah.
22Judah, the punishment I give will come like a storm,
and it will blow all your shepherds away.
You thought some of the other nations would help you.
But these nations will also be defeated.
Then you will really be disappointed.
You will be ashamed of all the evil things you did.
23“King, you seem so safe in your palace of cedar.
It’s as if you live in Lebanon!#22:23 It’s as if … Lebanon The king’s palace in Jerusalem was built with wood from the mountains of Lebanon, which was famous for its cedar trees.
But when your punishment comes, you will groan.
You will be in pain like a woman giving birth!”
Judgment Against King 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 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of. They want to kill you. 26I will throw you and your mother into another country where neither of you was born. You and your mother will die in that country. 27Jehoiachin, you will want to come back to your land, but you will never be allowed to come back.”
28Jehoiachin is like a broken pot that someone threw away.
He is like a pot that no one wants.
Why will Jehoiachin and his children be thrown out
and sent away into a foreign land?
29Land, land, land of Judah!
Listen to this message from the Lord!
30The Lord says, “Write this down about Jehoiachin:
‘He does not have children anymore!
Jehoiachin will not be successful
because none of his children will sit on the throne of David.
None of his children will rule in Judah.’”
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Jeremiah 22: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jeremiah 22
22
1Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, 2and say, #Jer. 17:20‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates! 3Thus says the Lord: #Is. 58:6; Jer. 21:12; (Mic. 6:8); Zech. 7:9; 8:16; Matt. 23:23“Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the #Jer. 7:6; Zech. 7:10fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you indeed do this thing, #Jer. 17:25then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David. 5But if you will not hear these words, #Matt. 23:38; Heb. 6:13, 17I swear by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ’ ”
6For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah:
“You are #Gen. 37:25; Num. 32:1; Song 4:1Gilead to Me,
The head of Lebanon;
Yet I surely will make you a wilderness,
Cities which are not inhabited.
7I will prepare destroyers against you,
Everyone with his weapons;
They shall cut down #Is. 37:24your choice cedars
#Jer. 21:14And cast them into the fire.
8And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, #Deut. 29:24–26; 1 Kin. 9:8, 9; 2 Chr. 7:20–22; Jer. 16:10‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’ 9Then they will answer, #2 Kin. 22:17; 2 Chr. 34:25; Jer. 11:3‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.’ ”
10Weep not for #2 Kin. 22:20the dead, nor bemoan him;
Weep bitterly for him #Jer. 14:17; 22:11; Lam. 3:48who goes away,
For he shall return no more,
Nor see his native country.
Message to the Sons of Josiah
11For thus says the Lord concerning #1 Chr. 3:15Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, #2 Kin. 23:34; 2 Chr. 36:4; Ezek. 19:4who went from this place: “He shall not return here anymore, 12but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13“Woe#2 Kin. 23:35; Jer. 17:11; Ezek. 22:13 to him who builds his house by unrighteousness
And his chambers by injustice,
#Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14, 15; Mic. 3:10; Hab. 2:9; James 5:4Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages
And gives him nothing for his work,
14Who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house with spacious chambers,
And cut out windows for it,
Paneling it with cedar
And painting it with vermilion.’
15“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And do justice and righteousness?
Then #2 Kin. 23:25; Ps. 128:2; Is. 3:10; Jer. 7:23; 42:6it was well with him.
16He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
Then it was well.
Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.
17“Yet#Jer. 6:13; 8:10; Ezek. 19:6; (Luke 12:15–20) your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness,
For shedding innocent blood,
And practicing oppression and violence.”
18Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
#Jer. 16:4, 6“They shall not lament for him,
Saying, #1 Kin. 13:30‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’
They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’
19#1 Kin. 21:23, 24; 2 Chr. 36:6; Jer. 36:30; Dan. 1:2He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey,
Dragged and cast out 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 hear.’
#Jer. 3:24, 25; 32:30This has been your manner from your youth,
That you did not obey My voice.
22The wind shall eat up all #Jer. 23:1your rulers,
And your lovers shall go into captivity;
Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated
For all your wickedness.
23O inhabitant of Lebanon,
Making your nest in the cedars,
How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you,
Like #Jer. 6:24the pain of a woman in labor?
Message to Coniah
24“As I live,” says the Lord, #2 Kin. 24:6, 8; 1 Chr. 3:16; 2 Chr. 36:9; Jer. 37:1“though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, #Song 8:6; Is. 49:16; Hag. 2:23were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; 25#2 Kin. 24:15, 16; Jer. 34:20and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. 26#2 Kin. 24:15; Jer. 10:18; 16:13So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. 27But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.
28“Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol—
#Ps. 31:12; Jer. 48:38; Hos. 8:8A vessel in which is no pleasure?
Why are they cast out, he and his descendants,
And cast into a land which they do not know?
29#Deut. 32:1; Is. 1:2; 34:1; Mic. 1:2O earth, earth, earth,
Hear the word of the Lord!
30Thus says the Lord:
‘Write this man down as #1 Chr. 3:16, 17; Matt. 1:12childless,
A man who shall not prosper in his days;
For #Ps. 94:20; Jer. 36:30none of his descendants shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.