Jeremiah 22:1–8

Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, ²and say, ^w‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³Thus says the Lord: ^xDo justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^ydo no wrong or violence ^zto the resident alien, ^xthe fatherless, and the widow, nor ^ashed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you will indeed obey this word, ^bthen there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. ⁵But if you will not obey these words, I ^cswear by myself, declares the Lord, that ^dthis house shall become a desolation. ⁶For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“ ‘You are like Gilead to me,

like the summit of ^eLebanon,

yet surely I will make you a desert,

^fan uninhabited city.¹

^7gI will prepare destroyers against you,

each with his weapons,

^hand they shall cut down your choicest cedars

and cast them into the fire.

⁸“ ‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ⁱ“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?”