Jeremiah 22

A Warning to the Kings of Judah

1 This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there.”

2 “Say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne, you, your officials, and your people who enter these gates.’”

3 “This is what the LORD says: Do justice and righteousness. Rescue the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor. Do not mistreat or do violence to the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.”

4 “For if you really obey this word, kings who sit on David’s throne will come through these gates, riding in chariots and on horses, along with their officials and their people.”

5 “But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that this house will become a ruin.”

Judah’s Royal Palace Will Fall

6 For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon, Yet I will surely turn you into a desert, a city not inhabited.”

7 “I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons. They will cut down your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire.”

8 “Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’”

9 And they will answer, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God, Worshiped other gods, and served them.”

No Mourning for Shallum (Jehoahaz)

10 “Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him. Weep bitterly for the one who is exiled, For he will never return or see his native land again.”

11 For this is what the LORD says about Shallum son of Josiah, Who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried away from this place: “He will never return here.”

12 “He will die in the place where they took him captive; He will never see this land again.”

Woe to Unrighteous Kings

13 “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upstairs rooms without justice, Who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing And does not pay him for his labor.”

14 He says, “I will build myself a huge palace with large upper rooms.” He cuts out windows for it, panels it with cedar, and paints it red.

15 “Does having more cedar make you a king, Your father (Josiah) ate and drank, But he practiced justice and righteousness, And it went well with him.”

16 “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, And so it went well. Is not this what it means to know Me,” Declares the LORD.

17 “But your eyes and heart are set only on dishonest gain, On shedding innocent blood, And on oppression and extortion.”

Judgment on Jehoiakim

18 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him, saying, ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his splendor!’”

19 “He will be buried like a donkey, Dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.”

A Call to Repent

20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, Lift your voice in Bashan, Cry out from Abarim, For all your lovers are destroyed.”

21 “I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way since your youth, You have not obeyed My voice.”

22 “The wind will shepherd away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated Because of all your wickedness.”

23 “You who live in Lebanon And nest in cedar buildings, How you will groan when pains come upon you, Pain like a woman in labor!”

Judgment on Coniah (Jehoiachin)

24 “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah (Jehoiachin) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.”

25 “I will hand you over to those who seek your life, To Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.”

26 “I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country, Where you were not born, And there you will die.”

27 “You will never return to the land you long to come back to.”

28 “Is this man Coniah a broken, discarded pot, an object no one wants, Why are he and his descendants thrown out and cast into a land they do not know?”

29 “O land, land, land, Hear the word of the LORD!”

30 This is what the LORD says: “Record this man as childless, A man who will not prosper in his days. None of his descendants will sit on the throne of David Or rule in Judah again.”