Jeremiah 22
22
1Thus says the Lord: Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and there deliver this word: 2You shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord, king of Judah, who sit on the throne of David, you, your ministers, and your people who enter by these gates!#Jer 17:20. 3Thus says the Lord: Do what is right and just. Rescue the victims from the hand of their oppressors. Do not wrong or oppress the resident alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.#Jer 21:12; Ex 22:21–24; Dt 24:17. 4If you carry out these commands, kings who succeed to the throne of David will continue to enter the gates of this house, riding in chariots or mounted on horses, with their ministers, and their people. 5But if you do not obey these commands, I swear by myself—oracle of the Lord: this house shall become rubble. 6For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
Though you be to me like Gilead,
like the peak of Lebanon,
I swear I shall turn you into a waste,
with cities uninhabited.
7Against you I will send destroyers,
each with their tools:
They shall cut down your choice cedars,
and cast them into the fire.#Jer 21:14.
8Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another: “Why has the Lord done this to so great a city?”#Dt 29:24–27. 9And they will be told: “Because they have deserted their covenant with the Lord, their God, by worshiping and serving other gods.”#Jer 19:4; 40:2–3.
Jehoahaz
10Do not weep for him who is dead,#Him who is dead: Josiah. His successor, Jehoahaz, was deported by Pharaoh Neco to Egypt, where he died (2 Kgs 23:33–34).
nor mourn for him!
Weep rather for him who is going away;
never again to see
the land of his birth.#2 Chr 35:23–25.
11Thus says the Lord concerning Shallum,#Shallum: i.e., Jehoahaz; cf. 1 Chr 3:15. This may have been his name at birth, in which case Jehoahaz would have been his throne name. son of Josiah, king of Judah, his father’s successor, who left this place: He shall never return, 12but in the place where they exiled him, there he shall die; he shall never see this land again.
Jehoiakim
13Woe to him who builds his house on wrongdoing,
his roof-chambers on injustice;
Who works his neighbors without pay,#Without pay: either by forced labor in public works, or by defrauding the workers. Despite the impoverishment caused in Judah by the payment of foreign tribute, Jehoiakim embarked on a building program in Jerusalem (v. 14); cedar was an expensive building material which had to be imported. Social injustice is the cause of much of the prophetic condemnation of the kings (v. 17).
and gives them no wages.#Lv 19:13; Dt 24:14; Hb 2:9, 12.
14Who says, “I will build myself a spacious house,
with airy rooms,”
Who cuts out windows for it,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it with vermilion.
15Must you prove your rank among kings#The rule of Josiah, Jehoiakim’s father, shows that authentic kingship is rooted in knowledge of the Lord and creates a society in which the most disadvantaged can expect and receive justice.
by competing with them in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And act justly and righteously?
Then he prospered.#2 Sm 5:11; 7:2; 2 Kgs 23:25.
16Because he dispensed justice to the weak and the poor,
he prospered.
Is this not to know me?—
oracle of the Lord.#Prv 31:9.
17But your eyes and heart are set on nothing
except your own gain,
On shedding innocent blood
and practicing oppression and extortion.#Ez 22:13, 27.
18Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah:
They shall not lament him,
“Alas! my brother”; “Alas! sister.”#“Alas! my brother”; “Alas! sister”: customary cries of mourning.
They shall not lament him,
“Alas, Lord! alas, Majesty!”#Jer 16:4–7; 1 Kgs 13:30.
19The burial of a donkey#The burial of a donkey: no burial at all, except to be cast outside the city as refuse. This prophecy describes the popular feeling toward Jehoiakim rather than the actual circumstances of his burial. According to 2 Kgs 24:5 he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. he shall be given,
dragged forth and cast out
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.#Jer 36:30.
Jeconiah
20Climb Lebanon and cry out,#The prophet first bids Jerusalem to scale Lebanon, Bashan, and Abarim, i.e., the highest surrounding mountains to the north, northeast, and southeast, and gaze on the ruin of its lovers, i.e., the false leaders of Judah, called its shepherds (v. 22); cf. 2:8. Jerusalem still stands (v. 23), apparently as secure as the heights of Lebanon, but destruction is to follow (cf. v. 6).
in Bashan lift up your voice;
Cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are crushed.#Jer 30:14–15; Dt 32:49.
21I spoke to you when you were secure,
but you answered, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way from your youth,
not to listen to my voice.
22The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
your lovers shall go into exile.
Surely then you shall be ashamed and confounded
because of all your wickedness.
23You who dwell on Lebanon,
who nest in the cedars,
How you shall groan when pains come upon you,
like the pangs of a woman in childbirth!
24As I live—oracle of the Lord—even if you, Coniah,#Coniah: a shortened form of Jeconiah, the name Jeremiah gives King Jehoiachin (cf. 24:1). A signet ring: the seal used by kings and other powerful figures—a symbol of their power and status—mounted in a ring worn constantly on the hand. The Lord says that even were Jehoiachin such a precious possession, he would reject him. Hg 2:23 uses the same imagery to signal the restoration of Zerubbabel. The words in Jer 22:24–30 date from the short three-month reign of Jehoiachin, before he was deported by Nebuchadnezzar. son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were a signet ring#Hg 2:23. on my right hand, I would snatch you off. 25I will hand you over to those who seek your life, to those you dread: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the Chaldeans.#Jer 21:7; 34:20. 26I will cast you out, you and the mother who bore you,#You and the mother who bore you: the queen mother held a special position in the monarchy of Judah, and in the Books of Kings she is invariably mentioned by name along with the king (1 Kgs 15:2; 2 Kgs 18:2). Jehoiachin did indeed die in Babylon. into a land different from the land of your birth; and there you will die;#2 Kgs 24:15. 27Neither shall return to the land for which they yearn.#Jer 44:14.
28Is this man Coniah a thing despised, to be broken,
a vessel that no one wants?
Why are he and his offspring cast out?
why thrown into a land they do not know?
29O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord—
30Thus says the Lord:
#Jer 36:30; 1 Chr 3:16–17; Mt 1:12. Write this man down as childless,#Childless: Jehoiachin is considered childless because none of his seven sons became king. His grandson Zerubbabel presided for a time over the Judahite community after the return from exile, but not as king. According to Ezekiel, whose oracles are dated by Jehoiachin’s fictitious regnal years, the people expected Jehoiachin to return. Jeremiah’s prophecy dispels this hope, despite the words of Hananiah (28:4).
a man who will never prosper in his life!
Nor shall any of his descendants prosper,
to sit upon the throne of David,
to rule again over Judah.
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Jeremiah 22: NABRE
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Jeremiah 22
22
Warning to David’s Heirs
1Thus said Adonai: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and speak this word:
2‘Hear the word of Adonai, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you, your servants, and your people who enter by these gates.’
3Thus says Adonai: ‘Execute justice and righteousness. Rescue the one who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the fatherless or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
4For if you really carry out this word, then through the gates of this palace will enter kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—himself, his servants, and his people.
5But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,’ declares Adonai, ‘that this palace will become a ruin.’”
6For thus says Adonai concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to Me— the summit of Lebanon, yet I will surely make you into a wilderness, uninhabited cities.
7I will consecrate destroyers against you, each with his own weapons. They will cut down your choice cedars and cast them into the fire.
8Many nations will pass by this city, and they will say, each to his neighbor, ‘Why has Adonai done such a thing to this great city?’
9Then they will answer: ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai their God, and worshipped other gods and served them.’”
10Weep not for the dead or bemoan him. Weep bitterly for him who departs, for he will never return, or see his native country again.
11For thus says Adonai to Shallum, son of King Josiah of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He who went forth from this place will never return there.
12Instead, in the place where they led him captive, there will he die—he will see this land no more.”
13Oy to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his roof-chambers by injustice, that makes his neighbor work without pay, never giving him his wages,
14who says: “I will build myself a big house with spacious rooms and cut out my windows for it, and panel it with cedar, and paint it with vermilion!
15Did you become king just to be striving with cedar? Did your father not eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it went well with him.
16He pled the case of the poor and weak, so it went well. Is not this knowledge of Me?” It is a declaration of Adonai.
17“But your eyes and your heart are only on your unjust gain, and on shedding innocent blood, and committing extortion and fraud.”
18Therefore thus says Adonai about Jehoiakim son of King Josiah of Judah: “They will not lament for him, ‘Oy , my brother!’ or ‘Oy , sister!’ They will not lament for him, ‘Oy , master!’ or ‘Oy , his majesty!’
19With a donkey’s burial will he be buried, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20Go up to Lebanon and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim— for all your lovers are broken.
21I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I won’t listen!’ This has been your way since your youth— for you never listened to My voice.
22The wind will shepherd away all of your shepherds, and your lovers will go into exile. Surely then you will be ashamed and humbled by all your wickedness.
23O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs come on you, pain like a woman in travail!
24“As I live,” declares Adonai, “even if Coniah son of King Jehoiakim of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off,
25and give you over into the hand of those seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26So I will cast you out, with your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born—and there will you die.
27But as for the land where they long to return, they will never return there.”
28Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot— a jar with no delight in it? Why are he and his seed cast out into the land they do not know?
29O land, land, land, hear the word of Adonai!
30Thus says Adonai: “Write this man childless, a man who will not prosper in his days. For no man of his seed will prosper, sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”
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