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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,
Prophecies Against the Kings of Judah
Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word,
Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak 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, you who sit 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!
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 indeed do this thing, then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David.
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.’”
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.
For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah:
“You are Gilead to Me,
The head of Lebanon;
Yet I surely will make you a wilderness,
Cities which are not inhabited.
“You are Gilead to Me,
The head of Lebanon;
Yet I surely will make you a wilderness,
Cities which are not inhabited.
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,
Everyone with his weapons;
They shall cut down your choice cedars
And cast them into the fire.
Everyone with his weapons;
They shall cut down your choice 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 everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done so to 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
Then 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 the dead, nor bemoan him;
Weep bitterly for him who goes away,
For he shall return no more,
Nor see his native country.
Weep bitterly for him who goes away,
For he shall return no more,
Nor see his native country.
He will die in a distant land and will never again see his own country.”
A Message about Jehoiakim
A Message about Jehoiakim
but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
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.’
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.
“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
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.
“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.”
“Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness,
For shedding innocent blood,
And practicing oppression and violence.”
For shedding innocent blood,
And 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, ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’
They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’
“They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’
They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’
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!
He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey,
Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry from Abarim,
For all your lovers are destroyed.
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry 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 hear.’
This has been your manner from your youth,
That you did not obey My voice.
But you said, ‘I will not hear.’
This has been your manner from your youth,
That you did not obey 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.
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.
I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country, not in your native land.
So I will cast you out, and your 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 desire 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?
O earth, earth, earth!
Listen to this message from the LORD!
Listen to this message from the LORD!
O earth, earth, earth,
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 prosper in his days;
For none of his descendants shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”
‘Write this man down as childless,
A man who shall not prosper in his days;
For none of his descendants shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”