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¹ Thus said YHWH: "Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah, and you have spoken this word there, and have said,² Hear a word of YHWH, O king of Judah, who are sitting on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people, who are coming in at these gates,"³ Thus said YHWH: "Do judgment and righteousness, || And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, || And sojourner, orphan, and widow, you do not oppress nor wrong, || And innocent blood you do not shed in this place.⁴ For if you certainly do this thing, || Then kings sitting for David on his throne || Have come in by the gates of this house, || Riding on chariot, and on horses, || He, and his servants, and his people.⁵ And if you do not hear these words, || I have sworn by Myself," || A declaration of YHWH, || "That this house is for a desolation."⁶ For thus said YHWH concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You [are] Gilead to Me—head of Lebanon, || If not—I make you a wilderness, || Cities [that] are not inhabited.⁷ And I have separated destroyers for you, || Each with his weapons, || And they have cut down the choice of your cedars, || And have cast them on the fire."⁸ And many nations have passed by this city, || And they have each said to his neighbor, "Why has YHWH done thus to this great city?"⁹ And they have said, "Because that they have forsaken || The covenant of their God YHWH, || And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them."

¹⁰ You do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, || Weep severely for the traveler, || For he does not return again, || Nor has he seen the land of his birth.¹¹ For thus said YHWH concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of his father Josiah, who has gone forth from this place: "He does not return here again;¹² For he dies in the place to where they have removed him, || And he does not see this land again.¹³ Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, || And his upper chambers by injustice, || He lays service on his neighbor for nothing, || And he does not give his wage to him.¹⁴ Who is saying, || I build a large house for myself, || And airy upper chambers, || And he has cut out its windows for himself, || Covered with cedar, and painted with vermillion.¹⁵ Do you reign, because you are fretting yourself in cedar? Your father—did he not eat and drink? Indeed, he did judgment and righteousness, || Then [it is] well with him.¹⁶ He decided the cause of the poor and needy, || Then [it is] well—is it not to know Me?" A declaration of YHWH.¹⁷ "But your eyes and your heart are not, || Except on your dishonest gain, || And on shedding of innocent blood, || And on oppression, and on doing of violence."¹⁸ Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "They do not lament for him, || Oh, my brother! And, Oh, my sister! They do not lament for him, || Oh, lord! And, Oh, his splendor!¹⁹ He is buried [with] the burial of a donkey, || Dragged and cast out there to the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰ Go up to Lebanon, and cry, || And give forth your voice in Bashan, || And cry from Abarim, || For all loving you have been destroyed.²¹ I have spoken to you in your ease, || You have said, I do not listen, || This [is] your way from your youth, || For you have not listened to My voice.²² Wind consumes all your friends, || And your lovers go into captivity, || Surely then you are ashamed, || And have blushed for all your wickedness.²³ O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, || How gracious have you been when pangs come to you, || Pain—as of a travailing woman."²⁴ "[As] I live," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah was a seal on My right hand, surely there I draw you away,²⁵ And I have given you into the hand of those seeking your life, || And into hands of which you are afraid, || Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, || And into the hand of the Chaldeans.²⁶ And I have cast you, || And your mother who bore you, to another country, || Where you were not born, and you die there.²⁷ And to the land to where they are lifting up their soul to return, || They do not return there."²⁸ A grief—a despised broken thing—is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Why have they been cast up and down, || He and his seed, || Indeed, were they cast on to a land that they did not know?²⁹ Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of YHWH!³⁰ Thus said YHWH: "Write this man down [as] childless, || A man—he does not prosper in his days, || For none of his seed prospers, || Sitting on the throne of David, || And ruling in Judah again!"