Jeremiah 22:1-23.
Jeremiah 22:1-23 (Good News Translation)
1-2The LORD told me to go to the palace of the king of Judah, the
descendant of David, and there tell the king, his officials, and the
people of Jerusalem to listen to what the LORD had said: 3I, the LORD,
command you to do what is just and right. Protect the person who is being
cheated from the one who is cheating him. Do not mistreat or oppress
aliens, orphans, or widows; and do not kill innocent people in this holy
place. 4If you really do as I have commanded, then David's descendants
will continue to be kings. And they, together with their officials and
their people, will continue to pass through the gates of this palace in
chariots and on horses. 5But if you do not obey my commands, then I swear
to you that this palace will fall into ruins. I, the LORD, have spoken.
6To me, Judah's royal palace is as beautiful as the land of Gilead and as
the Lebanon Mountains; but I will make it a desolate place where no one
lives. 7I am sending men to destroy it. They will all bring their axes,
cut down its beautiful cedar pillars, and throw them into the fire.
8Afterward many foreigners will pass by and ask one another why I, the
LORD, have done such a thing to this great city. 9Then they will answer
that it is because you have abandoned your covenant with me, your God, and
have worshiped and served other gods. 10People of Judah, do not weep for
King Josiah;
do not mourn his death.
But weep bitterly for Joahaz, his son;
they are taking him away, never to return,
never again to see the land where he was born. 11The LORD says concerning
Josiah's son Joahaz, who succeeded his father as king of Judah, He has
gone away from here, never to return. 12He will die in the country where
they have taken him, and he will never again see this land. 13Doomed is
the one who builds his house by injustice
and enlarges it by dishonesty;
who makes his people work for nothing
and does not pay their wages. 14Doomed is the one who says,
I will build myself a mansion
with spacious rooms upstairs.
So he puts windows in his house,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it red. 15Does it make you a better king
if you build houses of cedar,
finer than those of others?
Your father enjoyed a full life.
He was always just and fair,
and he prospered in everything he did. 16He gave the poor a fair trial,
and all went well with him.
That is what it means to know the LORD. 17But you can only see your
selfish interests;
you kill the innocent
and violently oppress your people.
The LORD has spoken. 18So then, the LORD says about Josiah's son
Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
No one will mourn his death or say,
How terrible, my friend, how terrible!
No one will weep for him or cry,
My lord! My king! 19With the funeral honors of a donkey,
he will be dragged away
and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates. 20People of Jerusalem, go to Lebanon
and shout,
go to the land of Bashan and cry;
call out from the mountains of Moab,
because all your allies have been defeated. 21The LORD spoke to you when
you were prosperous,
but you refused to listen.
That is what you've done all your life;
you never would obey the LORD. 22Your leaders will be blown away by the
wind,
your allies taken as prisoners of war,
your city disgraced and put to shame
because of all the evil you have done. 23You rest secure among the cedars
brought from Lebanon;
but how pitiful you'll be when pains strike you,
pains like those of a woman in labor.
1-2The LORD told me to go to the palace of the king of Judah, the
descendant of David, and there tell the king, his officials, and the
people of Jerusalem to listen to what the LORD had said: 3I, the LORD,
command you to do what is just and right. Protect the person who is being
cheated from the one who is cheating him. Do not mistreat or oppress
aliens, orphans, or widows; and do not kill innocent people in this holy
place. 4If you really do as I have commanded, then David's descendants
will continue to be kings. And they, together with their officials and
their people, will continue to pass through the gates of this palace in
chariots and on horses. 5But if you do not obey my commands, then I swear
to you that this palace will fall into ruins. I, the LORD, have spoken.
6To me, Judah's royal palace is as beautiful as the land of Gilead and as
the Lebanon Mountains; but I will make it a desolate place where no one
lives. 7I am sending men to destroy it. They will all bring their axes,
cut down its beautiful cedar pillars, and throw them into the fire.
8Afterward many foreigners will pass by and ask one another why I, the
LORD, have done such a thing to this great city. 9Then they will answer
that it is because you have abandoned your covenant with me, your God, and
have worshiped and served other gods. 10People of Judah, do not weep for
King Josiah;
do not mourn his death.
But weep bitterly for Joahaz, his son;
they are taking him away, never to return,
never again to see the land where he was born. 11The LORD says concerning
Josiah's son Joahaz, who succeeded his father as king of Judah, He has
gone away from here, never to return. 12He will die in the country where
they have taken him, and he will never again see this land. 13Doomed is
the one who builds his house by injustice
and enlarges it by dishonesty;
who makes his people work for nothing
and does not pay their wages. 14Doomed is the one who says,
I will build myself a mansion
with spacious rooms upstairs.
So he puts windows in his house,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it red. 15Does it make you a better king
if you build houses of cedar,
finer than those of others?
Your father enjoyed a full life.
He was always just and fair,
and he prospered in everything he did. 16He gave the poor a fair trial,
and all went well with him.
That is what it means to know the LORD. 17But you can only see your
selfish interests;
you kill the innocent
and violently oppress your people.
The LORD has spoken. 18So then, the LORD says about Josiah's son
Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
No one will mourn his death or say,
How terrible, my friend, how terrible!
No one will weep for him or cry,
My lord! My king! 19With the funeral honors of a donkey,
he will be dragged away
and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates. 20People of Jerusalem, go to Lebanon
and shout,
go to the land of Bashan and cry;
call out from the mountains of Moab,
because all your allies have been defeated. 21The LORD spoke to you when
you were prosperous,
but you refused to listen.
That is what you've done all your life;
you never would obey the LORD. 22Your leaders will be blown away by the
wind,
your allies taken as prisoners of war,
your city disgraced and put to shame
because of all the evil you have done. 23You rest secure among the cedars
brought from Lebanon;
but how pitiful you'll be when pains strike you,
pains like those of a woman in labor.
God bless you.
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