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
1 Thus says Yahweh: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there. 2And you must say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates. 3Thus says Yahweh, “Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been seized from the hand of the oppressor. And you must not oppress the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place. 4And if you indeed obey this word, then kings who sit for David on his throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots#Hebrew “chariot” and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5But if you do not obey these words, I swear by myself,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “that this house will become a site of ruins.” ’ ”
6For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah,
“You are like Gilead to me,
like the head of the Lebanon.
Surely#Literally “If not” I will make you a desert,#Or “wilderness”
like cities that are not inhabited.
7And I will consecrate against you destroyers,
everyone with his weapons,
and they will cut down your choicest cedars,#Literally “the choicest thing of your cedars”
and cast them#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation on the fire.
8And many nations will pass by this city and they will say each one to his neighbor, ‘Why#Literally “Over what” has Yahweh done in this manner to this great city?’ 9Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God, and bowed down in worship to other gods, and served them.’ ”
10You must not weep for the dead person,
and you must not show sympathy for him.
Weep bitterly for the one who goes away,
for he will not return, or see the land of his birth again.
11For thus says Yahweh concerning Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned as king in place of Josiah his father, who went out from this place: “He will not return here again. 12But in the place where they have deported him, there he will die, and he will not see this land again.
13Woe to the one who builds his house without righteousness,
and his upper rooms without justice.
His fellow countryman, he works for nothing,
and he does not give to him his wages.#Hebrew “wage”
14Who says ‘I will build for myself
a spacious house with large upper rooms,’
and he cuts windows for it,
and it is#Here the subject is supplied from context in the English translation paneled with cedar,
and he paints it#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation with vermilion.
15Do you reign as king because you are competing in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
and he did justice and righteousness,
then it was well with him?
16He judged the legal cause of the needy and the poor,
and then it was well.
Is that not what it means to know me?#Literally “Not that the knowledge me”” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
17“But there is nothing in your eyes and your heart
except#Literally “but if” your unlawful gain,
and on shedding the blood of the innocent,
and on committing oppression and extortion.”
18Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah:
“They will not lament for him,
‘Alas, my brother,’ or ‘Alas, sister.’
They will not lament for him,
‘Alas, lord,’ or ‘alas, his majesty.’
19He will be buried with the burial of a donkey.
He will be#Here the subject is supplied from context in the English translation dragged away and thrown outside#Literally “from beyond” the gates of Jerusalem.
20Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
and in Bashan lift up your voice,
and cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are shattered.
21I spoke to you in the times you were secure,#Literally “in your security”
and you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This was your way from your youth,
for you have not obeyed my voice.
22All your shepherds will shepherd the wind,
and your lovers will go into captivity.
Yes, then you will be ashamed and humiliated
because of all your wickedness.
23Inhabitants#Hebrew “Inhabitant” of Lebanon,
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groan when labor pains come to you,
fear and pain as the woman who gives birth.
24“As I live,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “surely if Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were the seal on my right hand, surely from there I would wrench you off. 25And I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those from whom you are frightened by their presence, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26And I will throw you and your mother who gave birth to you to another country where you were not born, and there you will die. 27As for the land to which they are longing#Literally “lifting their inner self” to return, they will not return.
28Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered vessel?
Or a vessel in which there is no delight?
Why are he and his offspring thrown far,
and cast away to the land that they do not know?”
29O land, land, land, hear the word of Yahweh. 30Thus says Yahweh:
“Record this man as childless,
a man who will not succeed in his days,
for no man from his offspring will succeed him,#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”
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