Jeremiah 22

JUDGMENT AGAINST SINFUL KINGS

22This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. ²You are to say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David^y—you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates. ³This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness.^z Rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor.^aa Don’t exploit or brutalize the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow.^a Don’t shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace^b riding on chariots and horses—they, their officers, and their people. ⁵But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by myself^c—this is the Lord’s declaration—that this house will become a ruin.’ ”^d

⁶For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“You are like Gilead^e to me,

or the summit of Lebanon,

but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,

uninhabited cities.

⁷I will set apart destroyers^f against you,

each with his weapons.

They will cut down the choicest of your cedars

and throw them into the fire.

⁸“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’ ⁹They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant^g of the Lord their God and bowed in worship to other gods and served them.’ ”^h

A MESSAGE CONCERNING SHALLUM

¹⁰Do not weep for the dead;

do not mourn for him.

Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,

for he will never return again

and see his native land.ⁱ

¹¹For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum^j son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah, and who has left this place: “He will never return here again, ¹²but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”

A MESSAGE CONCERNING JEHOIAKIM

¹³Woe for the one who builds his palace

through unrighteousness,^k

his upstairs rooms through injustice,

who makes his neighbor serve without pay

and will not give him his wages,^l

¹⁴who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,

with spacious upstairs rooms.”

He will cut windows^A in it,

and it will be paneled with cedar^m

and painted bright red.

¹⁵Are you a king because you excel in cedar?

Didn’t your father eat and drink

and administer justice and righteousness?ⁿ

Then it went well with him.

¹⁶He took up the case of the poor and needy;^o

then it went well.

Is this not what it means to know me?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁷But you have eyes and a heart for nothing

except your own dishonest profit,

shedding innocent blood

and committing extortion and oppression.^p

¹⁸Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim^q son of Josiah, king of Judah:

They will not mourn for him, saying,

“Woe, my brother!” or “Woe, my sister!”

They will not mourn for him, saying,

“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!”

¹⁹He will be buried like a donkey,^r

dragged off and thrown

outside Jerusalem’s gates.

²⁰Go up to Lebanon and cry out;

raise your voice in Bashan;

cry out from Abarim,^s

for all your lovers have been crushed.^t

²¹I spoke to you when you were secure.

You said, “I will not listen.”

This has been your way since youth;^u

indeed, you have never listened to me.

²²The wind will take charge of^B all your shepherds,

and your lovers will go into captivity.

Then you will be ashamed and humiliated^v

because of all your evil.

²³You residents of Lebanon,

nestled among the cedars,

how you will groan^C when pains come on you,

agony like a woman in labor.^a

A MESSAGE CONCERNING CONIAH

²⁴“As I live”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“though you, Coniah^Db son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring^c on my right hand, I would tear you from it. ²⁵In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread,^d who intend to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. ²⁶I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth^e to you into another land,^f where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. ²⁷They will never return to the land they long to return to.”

²⁸Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot,^g

a jar no one wants?

Why are he and his descendants hurled out

and cast into a land they have not known?

²⁹Earth, earth, earth,

hear the word of the Lord!

³⁰This is what the Lord says:

Record this man as childless,^h

a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.

None of his descendants will succeed

in sitting on the throne of Davidⁱ

or ruling again in Judah.