Jeremiah
Chapter 22
1 God says, “Go to the king of Judah’s palace and say this message there.
2 Say, “Listen to God’s word, King of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne, along with your officials and people who come through these gates.”
3 God says; Carry out fair justice and do what is right, and rescue those who have been robbed from their oppressors; and do not harm or be violent to foreigners, orphans, or widows, and do not kill innocent people here.
4 If you really do this, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, along with their servants and people.
5 If you don’t listen to these words, I promise by myself, says God, that this house will be left empty.
6 God says to the royal house of Judah, “You are like Gilead to me, and like the top of Lebanon. But I will surely turn you into a desert and cities without people.”
7 I will send destroyers against you, each with their weapons, and they will chop down your best cedar trees and throw them into the fire.
8 Many countries will pass by this city, and each person will ask their neighbor, why has God done this to this great city?
9 They will answer, ‘Because they left the agreement with their God and worshiped and served other gods.’
10 Do not cry for the dead or feel sad for them; but cry hard for the one who is leaving, for they will not come back or see their homeland again.
11 God says about Shallum, son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king after his father Josiah: He has left this place and will not come back.
12 He will die where he has been taken as a captive and will never see this land again.
13 Pity the one who builds his house by unfair means and his rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbor work for free and does not pay him for his labor.
14 Someone says, “I will build myself a big house with spacious rooms, put in windows, line it with cedar wood, and paint it bright red.”
15 Will you be king because you surround yourself with cedar? Didn’t your father eat, drink, and carry out fair judgment and justice, and then things went well for him?
16 He decided justly for the poor and needy; this brought goodness: isn’t this knowing me? says God.
17 Your eyes and heart only want to take things, kill the innocent, oppress, and be violent.
18 So this is what God says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: No one will mourn for him, saying, “Oh, my brother!” or “Oh, my sister!” No one will mourn for him, saying, “Oh, master!” or “Oh, his greatness!”
19 He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown out beyond Jerusalem’s gates.
20 Go to Lebanon and shout; raise your voice in Bashan, and call out from the crossings, because all your friends are ruined.
21 I spoke to you when you were doing well, but you said you wouldn’t listen. This has been your way since you were young, not obeying my voice.
22 The wind will destroy all your shepherds, and your friends will be taken away; then you will feel ashamed and embarrassed because of all your evil.
23 You who live in Lebanon and build your nest in the cedar trees, how will you plead for mercy when pain comes, like the pain of a woman giving birth?
24 I swear, says God, even if Coniah son of King Jehoiakim of Judah were like a ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.
25 I will hand you over to those who want to kill you, to those you are afraid of, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Chaldeans.
26 I will throw you and your mother who gave birth to you out to another country where you were not born, and there you will die.
27 But they will not go back to the land they want to return to.
28 Is Coniah a hated, shattered statue? Is he a container that brings no joy? Why are he and his descendants thrown out and sent to a land they do not know?
29 Earth, earth, earth, listen to God’s message.
30 God says, “Mark this man as childless, a man who will not succeed in his lifetime: because none of his descendants will succeed, sitting on David’s throne or ruling in Judah anymore.”