22:1 This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there:
22:2 ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne–you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.
22:3 This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
22:4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people.
22:5 But if you do not obey these commands, declares the LORD, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”
22:6 For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah: “Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a desert, like towns not inhabited.
22:7 I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire.
22:8 “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
22:9 And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”
22:10 Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled, because he will never return nor see his native land again.
22:11 For this is what the LORD says about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return.
22:12 He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”
22:13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.
22:14 He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.’ So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red.
22:15 “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.
22:16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the LORD.
22:17 “But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.”
22:18 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
22:19 He will have the burial of a donkey–dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.”
22:20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, let your voice be heard in Bashan, cry out from Abarim, for all your allies are crushed.
22:21 I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me.
22:22 The wind will drive all your shepherds away, and your allies will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness.
22:23 You who live in ‘Lebanon,’ who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor!
22:24 “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.
22:25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear–to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians.
22:26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die.
22:27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”
22:28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants? Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know?
22:29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
22:30 This is what the LORD says: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.”
22:1 Thus says Jehovah, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there,
22:2 And say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people, who enter through these gates:
22:3 Thus says Jehovah, Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor, and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow; nor shed innocent blood in this place.
22:4 For if you indeed do this thing, then kings sitting in David s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses ? the king and his servants and his people will come through the gates of this house;
22:5 But if you do not listen to these things, I swear by Myself, declares Jehovah, that this house will become a ruin.
22:6 For thus says Jehovah concerning the house of the king of Judah, You are Gilead to Me, / The summit of Lebanon; / Yet I will surely make you a wilderness, / Cities that are not inhabited.
22:7 And I will set apart destroyers against you, / Each with his weapons; / And they will cut down your choice cedars / And cast them into the fire.
22:8 And many nations will pass by this city, and they will say each one to his neighbor, Why has Jehovah done this to this great city?
22:9 And they will say, It is because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.
22:10 Do not weep for the one who died, nor lament for him; / But weep bitterly for the one who goes away, / For he will no longer return and see / The land of his birth.
22:11 For thus says Jehovah concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went away from this place: He will not return there anymore;
22:12 But in the place where they have exiled him he will die and never see this land again.
22:13 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness / And his upper rooms by injustice, / Who uses his neighbor s service without wages / And does not give him recompense for his work,
22:14 Who says, I will build myself a large house / With spacious upper chambers, / And cuts out for it windows; and it is paneled with cedar / And painted with vermilion.
22:15 Are you a king because you / Excel in cedar? / Did not your father eat and drink, / And execute judgment and righteousness? Thus it was well with him.
22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; thus it was well. / Is not this to know Me? / Declares Jehovah.
22:17 But you have eyes and a heart / Only for your unjust gain / And for shedding innocent blood / And for oppression and doing violence.
22:18 Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, They will not wail for him, saying, / Alas, my brother! or, Alas, sister! / They will not wail for him, saying, / Alas, lord! or, Alas, his majesty!
22:19 He will be buried with the burial of a donkey ? / Dragged and cast out / Beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
22:20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out; / And lift up your voice in Bashan, / And cry out from Abarim, / For all your lovers have been shattered.
22:21 I spoke to you in your prosperity; / But you said, I will not listen. / This has been your way from your youth, / That you have not listened to My voice.
22:22 The wind will shepherd all your shepherds, / And your lovers will go into captivity; / Then you will be ashamed and confounded / Because of all your wickedness.
22:23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, / Nested among the cedars, / How you will be pitied when pains come to you, / Anguish like that of a woman giving birth.
22:24 As I live, declares Jehovah, Even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would tear you off,
22:25 And I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life and into the hand of those whom you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
22:26 I will cast you and your mother who bore you far away into another land where you were not born, and there you will die.
22:27 But to the land to which they desire to return, they will not return.
22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered container? / Or is he a vessel no one delights in? / Why are he and his seed thrown away / And cast into a land which they do not know?
22:29 O land, land, land, / Hear the word of Jehovah:
22:30 Thus says Jehovah, / Write down this man as childless, / A man who will not prosper in his days; / For none of his seed will prosper / By sitting on the throne of David / Or by ruling again in Judah.