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Warning of Jerusalem's Fall

¹ Thus says the LORD, "Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there:² 'Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who ^(C1)sit on the throne of David—you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates.³ 'Thus says the LORD, "^(C1)Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his ^(C2)oppressor. And ^(C3)do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor ^(C4)shed innocent blood in this place.⁴ "For if you will indeed obey this word, then ^(C1)kings will enter through the gates of this palace, sitting in David's place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.⁵ "^(C1)But if you will not hear and obey these words, I ^(C2)swear an oath by Myself," says the LORD, "that this house will become a desolation."'"⁶ For thus says the LORD in regard to the house of the king of Judah:

"You are as valuable to Me as the green pastures of ^(C1)Gilead east of the Jordan
Or as the plentiful summit of Lebanon west of the Jordan,
Yet most certainly if you will not listen to Me I will make you a ^(C2)wilderness,
And uninhabited cities.

⁷ "For I will prepare and appoint ^(C1)destroyers to execute My judgments against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will ^(C2)cut down your palaces built of choicest cedars
And ^(C3)throw them in the fire.

⁸ "Many nations will pass by this city; and each man will ^(C1)say to another, 'Why has the LORD done this to this great city?'⁹ "Then they will answer, 'Because the people ^(C1)ignored and abandoned the solemn covenant with the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.'"

^10 (C1)Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him;
But weep bitterly for the one who goes away into exile,
For ^(C2)he will never return
And see his native country again.

¹¹ For thus says the LORD in regard to ^(C1)Shallum (Jehoahaz) the third son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father and who went from this place, "Shallum will not return here anymore;¹² he will ^(C1)die in the place where they led him captive and not see this land again.

Messages about the Kings

¹³ "Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds his house by acts of ^(C1)unrighteousness
And his upper chambers by injustice,
Who uses his neighbor's service without pay
And ^(C2)does not give him wages for his work,

¹⁴ Who says, 'I will ^(C1)build myself a spacious house
With large upper rooms,
And cut out its wide windows,
And panel it with ^(C2)cedar and paint it vermilion.'

¹⁵ "Do you think that you become a king because you have much more cedar in your palace than Solomon?
Did not your father Josiah, as he ate and drank,
^(C1)Do just and righteous acts being upright and in right standing with God?
Then all was ^(C2)well with him.

¹⁶ "He defended the cause of the ^(C1)afflicted and needy;
Then all was well.
^(C2)Is that not what it means to know Me?"
Says the LORD.

¹⁷ "But your eyes and your heart
Are only intent on your own ^(C1)dishonest gain,
On ^(C2)shedding innocent blood,
On oppression and extortion and violence."

¹⁸ Therefore thus says the LORD in regard to ^(F1)(C1)Jehoiakim the second son of Josiah, king of Judah,

"The relatives will not ^(C2)lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) for him:
'^(C3)Alas, my brother!' or, 'Alas, sister,' how great our loss!
The subjects will not lament for him:
'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, majesty how great was his glory!'

¹⁹ "^(F1)He shall be ^(C1)buried with the burial of a donkey—
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰ "Go up north to Lebanon and cry out,
And raise your voice in the hills of Bashan across the Jordan;
Cry out also from ^(F1)(C1)Abarim,
For all your ^(C2)lovers (allies) have been destroyed. ^(VR1)

²¹ "I spoke to you in your times of prosperity,
But ^(C1)you said, 'I will not listen!'
^(C2)This has been your attitude and practice ^(C3)from your youth;
You have not obeyed My voice.

²² "The wind of adversity will carry away all your ^(C1)shepherds (rulers, statesmen),
And your ^(C2)lovers (allies) will go into exile.
Surely then you will be ^(C3)ashamed and humiliated and disgraced
Because of all your wickedness.

²³ "O inhabitant of Jerusalem, whose palaces are made from the cedars of Lebanon,
You who nest in the cedars,
How you will groan and how miserable you will be when pains come on you,
^(C1)Pain like a woman in childbirth! ^(VR1)

²⁴ "As I live," says the LORD, "though ^(F1)(C1)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the ^(C2)signet ring on My right hand, yet would I pull you (Coniah) off.²⁵ "And I will ^(C1)place you in the hand of those who seek your life and in the hand of those whom you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the ^(F1)Chaldeans.²⁶ "I will ^(C1)hurl you and the ^(C2)mother who gave you birth into another country where you were not born, and there you will die.²⁷ "But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.

²⁸ "Is this man King Coniah a despised, broken jar?
Is he a ^(C1)vessel in which no one takes pleasure?
Why are he and his royal descendants ^(C2)hurled out
And cast into a ^(C3)land which they do not know or understand?

²⁹ "^(C1)O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the LORD!