1 T he Lord says, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there.

¶ Thus hath the LORD said: Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,

2 S ay, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who come through these gates.

and say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that doth sit upon the throne of David, thou, and thy slaves and thy people that enter in by these gates:

3 T he Lord says, “Do what is right and fair and good, and take the one who has been robbed away from the power of the one who has made it hard for him. Do not hurt or do wrong to the stranger, the one whose parents have died, or the woman whose husband has died. And do not kill those who are not guilty in this place.

Thus hath the LORD said: Execute judgment and righteousness and deliver the oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor and do not deceive, neither steal from the stranger nor from the fatherless nor from the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

4 F or if you will obey this word, then kings will come through the gates of this house and sit on the throne of David. They will be in war-wagons and on horses, together with their servants and their people.

For if ye effectively obey this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house the kings seated by David upon his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, he and his slaves and his people.

5 B ut if you will not obey these words, I promise by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house will be destroyed.”’”

But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, said the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

6 F or the Lord says about the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, or like the top of Lebanon. Yet I will be sure to make you like a desert, like cities without people.

For thus hath the LORD said regarding the house of the king 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.

7 I will send destroyers against you, each with his things for fighting. And they will cut down your best cedar trees and throw them on the fire.

And I will appoint destroyers against thee, each one with his weapons, and they shall cut down thy choice cedars and cast them into the fire.

8 M any nations will pass by this city, and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’

And many Gentiles shall pass by this city, and each man shall say to his neighbour, Why has the LORD done thus unto this great city?

9 A nd they will answer, ‘Because they did not keep the agreement of the Lord their God. They worshiped other gods and served them.’” Words about Shallum

Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshipped other gods and served them.

10 D o not cry for the one who is dead or have sorrow for him. But cry all the time for the one who goes away, for he will never return or see the land of his birth again.

¶ Do not weep for the dead nor bemoan him, but weep sore for him that goes away, for he shall return no more nor see his native country.

11 F or the Lord says about Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who ruled in the place of Josiah his father, and who left this place: “He will never return.

For thus hath the LORD said of Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, He who went forth out of this place shall not return there any more;

12 H e will die in the place where they took him, and he will not see this land again.” Words about Jehoiakim

but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive and shall see this land no more.

13 “ It is bad for him who builds his house by wrong-doing, and his upper rooms by not being fair, who has his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not pay him,

Woe unto him that builds his house and not in righteousness and his chambers and not in judgment, using his neighbour’s service without wages and not giving him the wages of his work!

14 w ho says, ‘I will build myself a big house with large upper rooms. I will cut out its windows, cover it with cedar and color it bright red.’

That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts out windows in it and covers it with cedar and anoints it with vermilion.

15 D o you become a king by trying to build better houses of cedar? Did not your father eat and drink? He did what was right and fair and good, so all went well with him.

Shalt thou reign, because thou dost enclose thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink and do judgment and righteousness, and then it was well with him?

16 H e spoke strong words in the cause of the poor and those in need, and so all went well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” says the Lord.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him. Is this not to know me? said the LORD.

17 “ But your eyes and heart are set only on what you can get by wrong-doing, and on killing those who are not guilty, and on making it hard for people and on hurting others.”

But 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.

18 S o the Lord says about Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not cry in sorrow for him, saying, ‘It is bad, my brother!’ or, ‘It is bad, my sister!’ They will not cry in sorrow for him, saying, ‘O lord!’ or, ‘O, how great he was!’

Therefore thus hath the LORD said concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! and Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

19 H e will be buried like they bury a donkey, pulled away and thrown out on the other side of the gates of Jerusalem. The Future of Jerusalem

He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 “ Go up to Lebanon and cry out. And let your voice be heard in Bashan. Cry out from Abarim also. For all your lovers have been destroyed.

¶ Go up to Lebanon and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan and cry unto all parts: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

21 I spoke to you when things were going well for you, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way since you were young. You have not obeyed My voice.

I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity, but thou didst say, I will not hear. This has been thy way from thy youth, that thou hast never heard my voice.

22 T he wind will take away all your shepherds, and your lovers will be taken away in chains. Then you will be ashamed and troubled because of all your sin.

The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confound thyself because of all thy malice.

23 O you people of Lebanon, who make your nest among the cedars, how you will cry inside yourselves when pain comes upon you! It will be pain like a woman giving birth.” Words against Coniah

Thou didst inhabit Lebanon, thou didst make thy nest in the cedars. How shalt thou cry out when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

24 “ As I live,” says the Lord, “even if Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were a marking ring on My right hand, I would still pull you off.

As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet I would pluck thee from there;

25 I will give you over to those who want to kill you, to those whom you fear. I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and to the Babylonians.

and I will give thee into the hand of those that seek thy soul and into the hand of those whose face thou dost fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 I will throw you and your mother who gave birth to you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die.

And I will cast thee out and thy mother that bore thee into another country, where ye were not born, and there ye shall die.

27 Y ou will want to return to this land again but you will not return.”

But to the land unto which they de sire to return, they shall not return there.

28 I s this man Coniah a hated, broken jar? Is he a pot that no one cares for? Why have he and his children been thrown out into a land that they had not known?

Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel in which there is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his generation, and are cast into a land which they know not?

29 O land, land, land, hear the Word of the Lord!

O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

30 T he Lord says, “Write this man down as one who has no children, a man who will not do well in his days. For none of his children or children’s children will do well sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.”

Thus hath the LORD said, Write what shall be of this man deprived of a generation, a man unto whom nothing shall prosper in all the days of his life, for no man of his seed who sits upon the throne of David and rules over Judah shall prosper.