Jeremiah 22

1 Thus said YHWH: “Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah, and you have spoken this word there, and have said,

Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2 Hear a word of YHWH, O king of Judah, who are sitting on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people, who are coming in at these gates,”

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

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

Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

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

For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

5 And if you do not hear these words, I have sworn by Myself,” A declaration of YHWH, “That this house is for a desolation.”

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

6 For thus said YHWH concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You [are] Gilead to Me—head of Lebanon, If not—I make you a wilderness, Cities [that] are not inhabited.

For thus saith the LORD unto the king’s house 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 And I have separated destroyers for you, Each with his weapons, And they have cut down the choice of your cedars, And have cast them on the fire.”

And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.

8 And many nations have passed by this city, And they have each said to his neighbor, “Why has YHWH done thus to this great city?”

And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

9 And they have said, “Because that they have forsaken The covenant of their God YHWH, And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them.”

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

10 You do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, Weep severely for the traveler, For he does not return again, Nor has he seen the land of his birth.

Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: [but] weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

11 For thus said YHWH concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of his father Josiah, who has gone forth from this place: “He does not return here again;

For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

12 For he dies in the place to where they have removed him, And he does not see this land again.

But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

13 Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, And his upper chambers by injustice, He lays service on his neighbor for nothing, And he does not give his wage to him.

Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

14 Who is saying, I build a large house for myself, And airy upper chambers, And he has cut out its windows for himself, Covered with cedar, and painted with vermillion.

That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and [it is] cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

15 Do you reign, because you are fretting yourself in cedar? Your father—did he not eat and drink? Indeed, he did judgment and righteousness, Then [it is] well with him.

Shalt thou reign, because thou closest [thyself] in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, [and] then [it was] well with him?

16 He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then [it is] well—is it not to know Me?” A declaration of YHWH.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD.

17 “But your eyes and your heart are not, Except on your dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.”

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 Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They do not lament for him, Oh, my brother! And, Oh, my sister! They do not lament for him, Oh, lord! And, Oh, his splendor!

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

19 He is buried [with] the burial of a donkey, Dragged and cast out there to the gates 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, And give forth your voice in Bashan, And cry from Abarim, For all loving you have been destroyed.

Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

21 I have spoken to you in your ease, You have said, I do not listen, This [is] your way from your youth, For you have not listened to My voice.

I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; [but] thou saidst, I will not hear. This [hath been] thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.

22 Wind consumes all your friends, And your lovers go into captivity, Surely then you are ashamed, And have blushed for all your wickedness.

The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

23 O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious have you been when pangs come to you, Pain—as of a travailing woman.”

O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

24 “[As] I live,” A declaration of YHWH, “Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah was a seal on My right hand, surely there I draw you away,

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

25 And I have given you into the hand of those seeking your life, And into hands of which you are afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans.

And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand [of them] whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I have cast you, And your mother who bore you, to another country, Where you were not born, and you die there.

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

27 And to the land to where they are lifting up their soul to return, They do not return there.”

But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.

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

[Is] this man Coniah a despised broken idol? [is he] a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

29 Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of YHWH!

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

30 Thus said YHWH: “Write this man down [as] childless, A man—he does not prosper in his days, For none of his seed prospers, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling in Judah again!”

Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.