Jeremiah 22
1 This is another message that Yahweh gave [to me]: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and say this to him:
This is what the Lord says: Go to the palace of the king of Judah and give this message.
2 ‘You are the king of Judah. You are the ruler [MTY], like King David was. You and your officials and your people must listen
Tell them: Listen to what the Lord has to say to you, king of Judah, sitting on the throne of David, you and your officials and the people here with you.
3 to what Yahweh says: “Act fairly and justly. Do what is right. Help those who have been robbed. Rescue people from those who oppress them. Stop doing evil things. Do not mistreat those who have come here from other countries, and do not mistreat orphans and widows. Stop murdering here [in Jerusalem] [MTY] those who (are innocent/have not done things that are wrong).
This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Protect those who are being unjustly treated by corrupt people. Don't do anything wrong to foreigners, orphans, or the widows. Don't use violence against them. Don't kill innocent people.
4 If you obey those commands carefully, there will [always] be some descendant of King David who will be ruling here [MTY] [in Jerusalem]. The king and his officials and other people will ride through the gates of the city in chariots and on horses.
If you will honestly do what I tell you, then kings who sit on David's throne will ride on chariots and horses with their officials through the gates of this palace. They'll be accompanied by the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem.
5 But if you refuse to pay attention to those commands, I, Yahweh, solemnly declare, with myself [MTY] as a witness, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.”’”
But if you refuse to obey what I say, then I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this palace will be turned into rubble.
6 And this is what Yahweh says about the king’s palace: “[I like] this palace, like I like the forests in the Gilead [region] and the mountains in Lebanon. But I will cause this palace to become a desert, a place that no one lives in.
This is what the Lord says about the royal family of the king of Judah: You are as dear to me as the forests on Gilead and on the mountains of Lebanon. But I will turn you into a desert, into towns where no one lives.
7 I will summon enemy troops who will destroy this palace; each of their soldiers will use his own tools [to wreck the building]. They will cut into pieces the beautiful big cedar [beams] and throw them into a fire.”
I will choose men to come and destroy you, each with their own ax. They will chop down your fine cedars and throw them in the fire.
8 People from many nations will walk past [the ruins of] this city and say to each other, “Why did Yahweh destroy this city that was [very] great?”
Foreigners from many nations will pass by this city and ask each another, “Why has the Lord done such terrible things to this great city?”
9 And [other] people will reply, “[He did it] because his people stopped obeying the agreement that they had made with Yahweh their God. Instead, they worshiped [DOU] other gods.”
People will answer, “Because they broke the agreement of the Lord their God. They went and worshiped other gods.”
10 [Yahweh also says, ] “Do not mourn for King [Josiah]; do not cry because he has died. Instead, mourn for [King Jehoahaz, his son], [because] he will be captured and taken to another country, and he will never return to see his own country, [Judah], again.”
Don't weep over the king that died. Don't mourn for him. Instead weep for the king who is exiled, who will never return, who will never see his homeland again.
11 Jehoahaz became king after his father, King Josiah, [died], but Jehoahaz indeed was captured and taken [to Babylonia]. And this is what Yahweh says about him: “He also will never return [to Judah].
This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz of Josiah, king of Judah. He succeeded his father Josiah but was taken away. He will never return.
12 He will die in that far-away country and will never see his own country again.”
He will die in exile; he will never see this country again.
13 [And Yahweh said to me], “Terrible things will happen to [King Jehoahaz’s brother, King Jehoiakim]. He unjustly [forced men to] build his palace. The rooms on the upper level were built [by men who were forced] unjustly [to do that work]; he forced his neighbors to work for nothing; he did not pay them anything.
Trouble is coming to Jehoiakim because he mistreats others in building his palace, by dealing unfairly with those constructing the upper floors. He makes his own people work for nothing—he doesn't pay them any wages.
14 He said, ‘I will [force my workers to] build a huge beautiful palace with very large rooms and [many] windows. They will cover the walls with [fragrant] cedar panels/timber and paint them bright red.’”
He says to himself, “I'm going to build myself a great palace, with large upper rooms.” He has windows inserted, puts in cedar panels, and paints it bright red with vermilion.
15 But it is certainly not [RHQ] having a beautiful cedar palace that causes a king to be great! Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, also had [RHQ] plenty of things to eat and drink. But Josiah always did things that are right and just, and that is why God blessed him.
Does it make you a king just because you have more cedar than anyone else? Your father had food and drink, didn't he? He ruled fairly and honestly, and he had a good life because of this.
16 Josiah acted justly/fairly and helped poor and needy people, so things went well for him. Yahweh says, “That is [RHQ] the way a person should behave who knows me.
He defended the poor and those in need, and so things went well. Isn't this what knowing me really means? declares the Lord.
17 But [Jehoiakim], you [MTY] are greedy and desire only to obtain things by acting dishonestly. You murder [MTY] innocent people, you oppress poor people, and you treat people cruelly and violently.”
But all you're looking for, all you think about, is getting whatever you want, however dishonestly. You kill the innocent, you violently mistreat and exploit your people.
18 Therefore, this is what Yahweh says about Jehoiakim, the son of King Josiah: “[When he dies], people will not mourn for him. They will not say to each other, ‘It is very sad; we are so sorry!’ The people whom he ruled will not mourn for him, saying, ‘We are sad that our king is dead; we are so sorry that the wonderful things [that happened while he was king are ended].’
So this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: They won't mourn for him, saying: “How sad, my brother! How sad my sister!” They won't mourn for him, saying: “How sad, my lord! How sad, his majesty!”
19 [When he dies, people will do to] his corpse what they do to a dead donkey; his [corpse] will be dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gates!
His burial will be that of a donkey. He'll be dragged off and thrown away outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20 [You people of Judah], go to [the mountains in] Lebanon and weep, shout in the [mountains of the] Bashan [region], cry out in [the mountains of] Moab, because all your friends [in those areas] have been destroyed.
Go to Lebanon and cry for help! Shout in Bashan! Scream from Abarim! For all your lovers have been destroyed.
21 When you were prosperous, I warned you, but you replied, ‘We will not pay attention [to what you say].’ You have been acting like that since you were young; you have never obeyed me.
I warned you when you thought you were safe and sound. But you replied, “I'm not going to listen!” That's been your attitude since you were young—you never did what I told you.
22 [So, now I will punish] all your leaders; [it will be as though] they have been blown away by the wind. They will be captured [by your enemies] and taken to another country. When that happens, you will [truly] be ashamed and disgraced because of all the wicked things [that you have done].
The wind will blow away all your “shepherds,” and your lovers will go into exile. Then you will be shamed and disgraced because of all the evil things you've done.
23 [Now, your king] enjoys living in the cedar rooms in his palace, but [soon] he will be punished, and then he will groan like [SIM] a woman who is giving birth to a baby.”
You who live in “Lebanon” in your cedar nest, how much you're going to groan when agonizing pains hit you like a woman in labor.
24 Yahweh says this: “Jehoiachin, son of King Jehoiakim of Judah, as surely as I am alive, [I will punish you]. Even if you were the ring on my finger that shows that I am the king, I would pull you off.
The Lord said to Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: As I live, declares the Lord, even if you were a signet ring on a finger of my right hand, I would pull you off.
25 You are afraid of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his huge army, [because] they are wanting to kill you. I will enable them to capture you.
I'm going to hand you over to those who terrify you and who want to kill you, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the Babylonians.
26 I will expel you and your mother [from this land], and you will be taken to another country. Neither of you was born there, but you will both die there.
I'm going to throw you out—you and the mother who gave birth to you—sending you to another country. Neither of you were born there, but both of you will die there.
27 You will never return to this land that you will very much desire to return to.”
You won't ever return to the country you love so much.
28 [Someone said, ] “Jehoiachin will be [RHQ] like a broken pot that is despised and which no one wants. He and his children will be (exiled/forced to go) to a foreign land.
Who is this man Jehoiachin? A broken pot that's been thrown away, something nobody wants? Why has he and his children been thrown out, exiled in an unfamiliar country?
29 [I want] the people in this land to listen carefully to this message from Yahweh.”
My country, my country, my country! Listen to what the Lord has to say!
30 This is what Yahweh says: “[In the record about the kings of Judah, ] write down that [it will be as though] this man [Jehoiachin] had no children, and that he has not been successful during his life, because none of his children/descendants will [ever] become king to rule over [the people of] Judah.”
This is what the Lord says: Put this man down as having no children. He's a man who won't ever be successful in his whole life. None of his children will ever be successful either. None of them will sit on David's throne or be king in Judah.
