Jeremiah, 22

1. Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

1. Yahweh said to me, "Go to the palace of the king of Judah and give him this message:

2. And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

2. Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah who sit on the throne of David. To you, your servants and all who enter by these gates,

3. Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

3. Yahweh says: Practice justice and do good. Free the oppressed from their oppressor. Harm not the foreigners, the orphans and the widows; do them no violence, and let no innocent blood be spilled in this place.

4. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

4. If you do this, kings succeeding King David will enter these gates riding on their chariots and horses, together with their servants and their people.

5. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

5. But if you do not heed my word - it is Yahweh who speaks I swear by myself that this place will become a ruin."

6. For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou [art] Gilead unto me, [and] the head of Lebanon: [yet] surely I will make thee a wilderness, [and] cities [which] are not inhabited.

6. For this is what Yahweh says of the royal house of Judah: For me you are like Gilead, like a peak of Lebanon! And yet I will transform you into a desert, a city where no one lives.

7. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.

7. I will prepare destroyers to attack you, each with an axe in his hand. They will cut down your choice cedars and throw them into the fire.

8. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

8. Pagans without number will pass by this city and say to one another, "Why has Yahweh dealt with this great city in such a way?"

9. Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

9. And they will answer, "Because they broke their covenant with Yahweh, their God, and worshiped and served other gods!"

10. Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: [but] weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

10. Weep not for the one who is dead! grieve not for him. Mourn rather for him who is in exile for he will never return to see his homeland again!

11. For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

11. For this is what Yahweh has said of King Josiah's son, Shallum, who succeeded his father as king of Judah:

12. But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

12. "He will never return, for he will die in the place to which he has been deported and will never see this land again.

13. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

13. Damned is the man who builds his house with stolen goods, and extends it upwards by means of injustice; he who makes his fellowman work for nothing and refuses to give him his wages!

14. That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and [it is] cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

14. So you build for yourself a fine palace with spacious upper rooms! So you have large windows put in, you have it paneled with cedarwood and painted vermillion.

15. Shalt thou reign, because thou closest [thyself] in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, [and] then [it was] well with him?

15. Does amassing cedar make you more of a king? Was not your father a just man? He ate and drank to his life's content, but he acted justly and all went well for him.

16. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD.

16. He defended the cause of the poor and needy: this is the meaning of knowing Yahweh.

17. But thine eyes and thine heart [are] not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do [it].

17. But your eyes and heart are set on selfish gain, on the shedding of innocent blood, and oppressive violence.

18. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

18. Therefore this is what Yahweh says concerning Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: No one shall lament for him saying: Alas, my brother! Alas, O sister! No one shall lament for him saying: Alas, my lord! Alas, your majesty!

19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

19. He will be given the burial of a donkey, dragged away and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20. Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

20. Go up to Lebanon and cry out; weep from the heights of Bashan cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed.

21. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; [but] thou saidst, I will not hear. This [hath been] thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.

21. I spoke to you in more fortunate days, but you said: 'I will not listen.' You have been like that since your youth, paying no attention to my word.

22. The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

22. All your shepherds will be scattered by the wind and your lovers will be taken captive; then you will be covered with shame because of your evil deeds.

23. O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

23. You who call your house: 'Lebanon' and made your nest of cedarwood, how you will groan when sorrow comes like the birthpangs of a woman in labor!

24. [As] I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

24. By my life - says Yahweh - even if Jeconiah, Jehoiakim's son, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand I would pull him off!

25. And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand [of them] whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

25. I will hand you to those who seek your life, to the Chaldeans you fear.

26. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

26. Then I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into a foreign land where you were not born. There you shall die,

27. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.

27. for to the land for which you long, you will never return!"

28. [Is] this man Coniah a despised broken idol? [is he] a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

28. Is this Jeconiah a broken and useless crock that no one wants? Why has he been expelled, he and his family, to a land they do not know?

29. O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

29. Land, land, land! Hear what Yahweh says.

30. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

30. These are his words, "List this man as childless!" None of his race will succeed; not one will be fortunate to sit on David's throne and rule again over Judah.