CHAPTER 22
This is what
the LORD
says:
“Go down
to the palace
of the king
of Judah
and proclaim
this
message
there,
saying,
‘Hear
the word
of the LORD,
O king
of Judah,
who sits
on
the throne
of David—
you
and your officials
and your people
who enter
these
gates.
This is what
the LORD
says:
Administer
justice
and righteousness.
Rescue
the victim of robbery
from the hand
of his oppressor.
Do no
wrong
or violence
to the foreigner,
the fatherless,
or the widow.
Do not
shed
innocent
blood
in this
place.
For
if
you will indeed
carry out
these
commands,
then kings
who sit
on
David’s
throne
will enter
through the gates
of this
palace
riding
on chariots
and horses—
they
and their officials
and their people.
But if
you do not
obey
these
words,
then I swear by Myself,
declares
the LORD,
that
this
house
will become
a pile of rubble.’”
For
this is what
the LORD
says
concerning
the house
of the king
of Judah:
“You
are like Gilead to Me,
like the summit
of Lebanon;
but I will certainly
turn you
into a desert,
like cities
that are uninhabited.
I will appoint
destroyers
against you,
each man
with his weapons,
and they will cut down
the choicest
of your cedars
and throw
them into
the fire.
And many
nations
will pass
by
this
city
and ask
one
another,
‘Why
has the LORD
done
such a thing
to this
great
city?’
Then people will reply,
‘Because
they have forsaken
the covenant
of the LORD
their God
and have worshiped
and served
other
gods.’
Do not
weep
for the dead king;
do not
mourn his loss.
Weep
bitterly
for the one who is exiled,
for
he will never
return
to see
his native
land.
For
this is what
the LORD
says
concerning
Shallum
son
of Josiah,
king
of Judah,
who succeeded
his father
Josiah
but has gone forth
from
this
place:
‘He will never
return,
“Woe
to him who builds
his palace
by
unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms
without
justice,
who makes his countrymen
serve
without pay,
and will not
give
him
his wages,
who says,
‘I will build
myself
a great
palace,
with spacious
upper rooms.’
So he cuts
windows in it,
panels it
with cedar,
and paints it
with vermilion.
Are you a king
because
you
excel
in cedar?
Did not
your father
eat
and drink
and administer
justice
and righteousness?
Then
it went well with him.
He took up
the cause
of the poor
and needy,
and so
it went well.
Is this
not
what it means to know
Me?”
declares
the LORD.
“But
your eyes
and heart
are set on nothing
except
your own dishonest gain,
on shedding
innocent
blood,
on practicing
extortion
and oppression.”
Therefore,
this is what
the LORD
says
concerning
Jehoiakim
son
of Josiah
king
of Judah:
“They will not
mourn
for him:
‘Alas,
my brother!
Alas,
my sister!’
They will not
mourn
for him:
‘Alas,
for the master!
Alas,
for his splendor!’
Go up
to Lebanon
and cry out;
raise
your voice
in Bashan;
cry out
from Abarim,
for
all
your lovers
have been crushed.
I warned
you
when you were secure.
You said,
‘I will not
listen.’
This
has been your way
from youth,
that
you have not
you obeyed
My voice.
The wind
will drive away
all
your shepherds,
and your lovers
will go
into captivity.
Then
you will be ashamed
and humiliated
because of all
your wickedness.
O inhabitant
of Lebanon,
nestled
in the cedars,
how
you will groan
when pangs of anguish
come upon you,
agony
like a woman in labor.”
“As surely as I
live,”
declares
the LORD,
“even
if
you, Coniah
son
of Jehoiakim
king
of Judah,
were
a signet ring
on
My right
hand,
I would pull you
off.
And I will hand you over
to those
you
dread,
who want to take
your life—
to Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
and the Chaldeans.
I will hurl
you
and
the mother
who
gave you birth
into
another
land,
where
neither
of you were born—
and there
you will both die.
Is this
man
Coniah
a despised
and shattered
pot,
a jar
that no
one wants?
Why
are he
and his descendants
hurled out
and cast
into
a land
they do not
know?
This is what
the LORD
says:
“Enroll
this
man
as childless,
a man
who will not
prosper
in his lifetime.
None
of his descendants
will prosper
to sit
on
the throne
of David
or to rule
again
in Judah.”