1Thus saith 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, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:3Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.4For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.5But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.6For thus saith the LORD unto the king' house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.7And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.8And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?9Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.10Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.11For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:12But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.13Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;14That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.15Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it .18Therefore thus saith 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 glory!19He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.20Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.21I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.22The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!24As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;25And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.26And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.27But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.28Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.30Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
1The LORD said to Jeremiah, ‘Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Announce my message there. Tell him,2“King of Judah, listen to the LORD’s message. You are sitting on David’s throne. You and your officials and your people come through these gates.3The LORD says, ‘Do what is fair and right. Save those who have been robbed. Set them free from the people who have treated them badly. Do not do anything wrong to outsiders or widows in this place. Do not harm children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong.4Be careful to obey these commands. Then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace. They will come riding in chariots and on horses. Their officials and their people will come along with them.5But suppose you do not obey these commands,’ announces the LORD. ‘Then I promise you that this palace will be destroyed. You can be as sure of this promise as you are sure that I live.’ ” ’6The LORD speaks about the palace of the king of Judah. He says, ‘You are like the land of Gilead to me. You are like the highest mountain in Lebanon. But I will make you like a desert. You will become like towns that no one lives in.7I will send destroyers against you. All of them will come with their weapons. They will cut up your fine cedar beams. They will 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 thing to this great city?”9And the answer will be, “This happened because of what its people have done. They have turned away from the covenant the LORD their God made with them. They have worshipped other gods. And they have served them.” ’10Don’t weep over dead King Josiah. Don’t be sad because he’s gone. Instead, weep bitterly over King Jehoahaz. He was forced to leave his country. He will never return. He’ll never see his own land again.11Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father Josiah. But he has gone away from this place. That’s because the LORD says about him, ‘He will never return.12He will die in Egypt. That is where he was taken as a prisoner. He will not see this land again.’13The LORD says, ‘How terrible it will be for King Jehoiakim! He builds his palace by mistreating his people. He builds its upstairs rooms with money gained by sinning. He makes his own people work for nothing. He does not pay them for what they do.14He says, “I will build myself a great palace. It will have large rooms upstairs.” So he makes big windows in it. He covers its walls with cedar boards. He decorates it with red paint.15‘Jehoiakim, does having more and more cedar boards make you a king? Your father Josiah had enough to eat and drink. He did what was right and fair. So everything went well with him.16He stood up for those who were poor or needy. So everything went well with him. That is what it means to know me,’ announces the LORD.17‘Jehoiakim, the only thing on your mind is to get rich by cheating others. You would even kill people who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. You would mistreat them. You would take everything they own.’18So the LORD speaks about King Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. He says, ‘His people will not mourn for him. They will not say, “My poor brother! My poor sister!” They will not mourn for him. They will not say, “My poor master! How sad that his glory is gone!”19In fact, he will be buried like a donkey. His body will be dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’20The LORD says, ‘People of Jerusalem, go up to Lebanon. Cry out for help. Let your voice be heard in the land of Bashan. Cry out from the mountains of Abarim. All those who were going to help you are crushed.21When you felt secure, I warned you. But you said, “I won’t listen!” You have acted like that ever since you were young. You have not obeyed me.22The wind will drive away all your shepherds. All those who were going to help you will be carried off as prisoners. Then you will be dishonoured and put to shame. That will happen because you have been so sinful.23Some of you live in Jerusalem in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. You are comfortable in your cedar buildings. But you will groan when pain comes on you. It will be like the pain of a woman having a baby.24‘King Jehoiachin, you are the son of Jehoiakim,’ announces the LORD. ‘Suppose you were a ring on my right hand. And suppose the ring even had my royal mark on it. Then I would still pull you off my finger. And that is just as sure as I am alive.25I will hand you over to those who want to kill you. I will hand you over to people you are afraid of. I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. I will hand you over to his armies.26I will throw you out into another country. I will throw your mother out. Neither of you was born in that country. But both of you will die there.27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.’28This man Jehoiachin is like a broken pot. Everyone hates him. No one wants him. Why will he and his children be thrown out of this land? Why will they be sent to a land they don’t know about?29Land, land, land, listen to the LORD’s message!30The LORD says, ‘Let the record say that this man did not have any children. Let it report that he did not have any success in life. None of his children will have success either. None of them will sit on David’s throne. None of them will ever rule over Judah.