Jeremiah 22
1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah,
and speak there this word,
2 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant
of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 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 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 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive,
and shall see this land no more.
13 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 lift up thy voice in Bashan, and
cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 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 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 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, 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 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 will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into
another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall
they not return.
28 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 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 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.
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