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A Message for Judah’s Kings
This is what the LORD said to me: “Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah. Say to him,
This is what the LORD said to me: “Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah. Say to him,
Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,
‘Listen to this message from the LORD, you king of Judah, sitting on David’s throne. Let your attendants and your people listen, too.
and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.
This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!
Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
If you obey me, there will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. The king will ride through the palace gates in chariots and on horses, with his parade of attendants and subjects.
For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people.
But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the LORD, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.’”
But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
A Message about the Palace
Now this is what the LORD says concerning Judah’s royal palace:
“I love you as much as fruitful Gilead
and the green forests of Lebanon.
But I will turn you into a desert,
with no one living within your walls.
I will call for wreckers,
who will bring out their tools to dismantle you.
They will tear out all your fine cedar beams
and throw them on the fire.
who will bring out their tools to dismantle you.
They will tear out all your fine cedar beams
and throw them on the fire.
I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
“People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, ‘Why did the LORD destroy such a great city?’
“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?”
And the answer will be, ‘Because they violated their covenant with the LORD their God by worshiping other gods.’”
A Message about Jehoahaz
A Message about Jehoahaz
And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss.
Instead, weep for the captive king being led away!
For he will never return to see his native land again.
Instead, weep for the captive king being led away!
For he will never return to see his native land again.
Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
nor grieve for him,
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
Message to the Sons of Josiah
For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more,
For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more,
He will die in a distant land and will never again see his own country.”
A Message about Jehoiakim
A Message about Jehoiakim
but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
He says, ‘I will build a magnificent palace
with huge rooms and many windows.
I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedar
and paint it a lovely red.’
with huge rooms and many windows.
I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedar
and paint it a lovely red.’
who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king!
Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink.
But he was just and right in all his dealings.
That is why God blessed him.
Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink.
But he was just and right in all his dealings.
That is why God blessed him.
Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He gave justice and help to the poor and needy,
and everything went well for him.
Isn’t that what it means to know me?”
says the LORD.
and everything went well for him.
Isn’t that what it means to know me?”
says the LORD.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the Lord.
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the Lord.
“But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty!
You murder the innocent,
oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”
You murder the innocent,
oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”
But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah:
“The people will not mourn for him, crying to one another,
‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
His subjects will not mourn for him, crying,
‘Alas, our master is dead! Alas, his splendor is gone!’
“The people will not mourn for him, crying to one another,
‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
His subjects will not mourn for him, crying,
‘Alas, our master is dead! Alas, his splendor is gone!’
Therefore thus says 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 majesty!’
“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 majesty!’
He will be buried like a dead donkey —
dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gates!
dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gates!
With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
I warned you when you were prosperous,
but you replied, ‘Don’t bother me.’
You have been that way since childhood —
you simply will not obey me!
but you replied, ‘Don’t bother me.’
You have been that way since childhood —
you simply will not obey me!
I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
And now the wind will blow away your allies.
All your friends will be taken away as captives.
Surely then you will see your wickedness and be ashamed.
All your friends will be taken away as captives.
Surely then you will see your wickedness and be ashamed.
The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace
paneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon,
but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish —
anguish like that of a woman in labor.
paneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon,
but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish —
anguish like that of a woman in labor.
O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!”
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!”
“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off
and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country, not in your native land.
I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.
You will never again return to the land you yearn for.
But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
“Why is this man Jehoiachin like a discarded, broken jar?
Why are he and his children to be exiled to a foreign land?
Why are he and his children to be exiled to a foreign land?
Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land that they do not know?
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land that they do not know?
O earth, earth, earth!
Listen to this message from the LORD!
Listen to this message from the LORD!
O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
hear the word of the Lord!
This is what the LORD says:
‘Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless.
He is a failure,
for none of his children will succeed him on the throne of David
to rule over Judah.’
‘Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless.
He is a failure,
for none of his children will succeed him on the throne of David
to rule over Judah.’
Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”
“Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”