Jeremias 22

1 Thus saith the Lord; Go thou, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and thou shalt speak there this word,

Thus said Jehovah, 'Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah, and thou hast spoken there this word, and hast said,

2 and thou shalt say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest on the throne of David, thou, and thy house, and thy people, and they that go in at these gates:

Hear a word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who art sitting on the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who are coming in at these gates,

3 thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him: and oppress not the stranger, and orphan, and widow, and sin not, and shed no innocent blood in this place.

Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place.

4 For if ye will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they, and their servants, and their people.

For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people.

5 But if ye will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that this house shall be [brought] to desolation.

And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn — an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation.

6 For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; Thou art Galaad to me, [and] the head of Libanus: [yet] surely I will make thee a desert, [even] cities that shall not be inhabited:

For thus said Jehovah, Concerning the house of the king of Judah: Gilead [art] thou to Me — head of Lebanon, If not — I make thee a wilderness, Cities not inhabited.

7 and I will bring upon thee a destroying man, and his axe: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.

And I have separated for thee destroyers, Each with his weapons, And they have cut down the choice of thy cedars, And have cast them on the fire.

8 And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbour, Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?

And many nations have passed by this city, And they have said, each to his neighbour, For what hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?

9 And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them.

And they have said, 'Because that they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them.'

10 Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.

Ye do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, Weep ye sore for the traveller, For he doth not return again, Nor hath he seen the land of his birth.

11 For thus saith the Lord concerning Sellem the son of Josias, who reigns in the place of Josias his father, who has gone forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

For thus said Jehovah concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of Josiah his father, who hath gone forth from this place: He doth not turn back hither again;

12 but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.

For in the place whither they have removed him he dieth, And this land he doth not see again.

13 He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment, who works by means of his neighbour for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward.

Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, And his upper chambers by injustice, On his neighbour he layeth service for nought, And his wage he doth not give to him.

14 Thou hast built for thyself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

Who is saying, 'I build for myself a large house, And airy upper chambers,' And he hath cut out for himself its windows, Ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

15 Shalt thou reign, because thou art provoked with thy father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for thee to execute judgment and justice.

Dost thou reign, because thou art fretting thyself in cedar? Thy father — did he not eat and drink? Yea, he did judgment and righteousness, Then [it is] well with him.

16 They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this thy not knowing me? saith the Lord.

He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then [it is] well — is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah.

17 Behold, thine eyes are not good, nor thine heart, but [they go] after thy covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.

But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.

18 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man; they shall not bewail him, [saying], Ah brother! neither shall they at all weep for him, [saying], Alas Lord.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: They do not lament for him, Ah, my brother, and Ah, sister, They do not lament for him, Ah, lord, and Ah, his honour.

19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem.

The burial of an ass — he is buried, Dragged and cast out thence to the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter thy voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

Go up to Lebanon, and cry, And in Bashan give forth thy voice, And cry from Abarim, For destroyed have been all loving thee.

21 I spoke to thee on [occasion of] thy trespass, but thou saidst, I will not hearken. This [has been] thy way from thy youth, thou hast not hearkened to my voice.

I have spoken unto thee in thine ease, Thou hast said, 'I do not hearken,' This [is] thy way from thy youth, For thou hast not hearkened to My voice.

22 The wind shall tend all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; for then shalt thou be ashamed and disgraced because of all thy lovers.

All thy friends consume doth wind, And thy lovers into captivity do go, Surely then thou art ashamed, And hast blushed for all thy wickedness.

23 O thou that dwellest in Libanus, making thy nest in the cedars, thou shalt groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon thee.

O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious hast thou been when pangs come to thee, Pain — as of a travailing woman.

24 [As] I live, saith the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck thee;

I live — an affirmation of Jehovah, Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah Were a seal on My right hand, Surely thence I draw thee away,

25 and I will deliver thee into the hands of them that seek thy life, before whom thou art afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.

And I have given thee into the hand of those seeking thy life, And into hands of which thou art afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will cast forth thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a land where thou wast not born; and there ye shall die.

And I have cast thee, And thy mother who bore thee, unto another country, Where ye were not born, and there do ye die.

27 But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls.

And to the land whither they are lifting up their soul to return, Thither they do not return.

28 Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not.

A grief — a despised broken thing — is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Wherefore have they been cast up and down, He and his seed, Yea, they were cast on to a land that they knew not?

29 Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.

Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of Jehovah,

30 Write ye this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, [or as] a prince yet in Juda.

Thus said Jehovah: Write ye this man childless, A man — he doth not prosper in his days, For none of his seed doth prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling again in Judah!