Jeremiah, 22

1. Yahweh said this, 'Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and there say this word,

1. Thus says the LORD: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2. "Listen to the word of Yahweh, king of Judah now occupying the throne of David, you, your officials and your people who go through these gates.

2. and say, `Hear the word of the LORD, O King of Judah, who sit on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.

3. Yahweh says this: Act uprightly and justly; rescue from the hands of the oppressor anyone who has been wronged, do not exploit or ill-treat the stranger, the orphan, the widow; shed no innocent blood in this place.

3. Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

4. For if you are scrupulous in obeying this command, then kings occupying the throne of David will continue to make their entry through the gates of this palace riding in chariots or on horseback, they, their officials and their people.

4. For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people.

5. But if you do not listen to these words, then I swear by myself, Yahweh declares, this palace shall become a ruin!

5. But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

6. "Yes, this is what Yahweh says about the palace of the king of Judah: You are like Gilead to me, like a peak of Lebanon. All the same, I will reduce you to a desert, to uninhabited towns.

6. For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: "`You are as Gilead to me, as the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.

7. I dedicate men to destroy you, each man with his weapons; they will cut down your finest cedars and throw them on the fire.

7. I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons; and they shall cut down your choicest cedars, and cast them into the fire.

8. "And when many nations pass this city, they will say to one another: Why has Yahweh treated this great city like this?

8. "`And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, "Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?"

9. And the answer will be: Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God to worship other gods and serve them." '

9. And they will answer, "Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshiped other gods and served them."'"

10. Do not weep for the man who is dead, do not raise the dirge for him. Weep rather for the one who has gone away, since he will never come back, never see his native land again.

10. Weep not for him who is dead, nor bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land.

11. For this is what Yahweh has said about Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded Josiah his father and was forced to leave this place, 'He will never come back to it

11. For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josi'ah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josi'ah his father, and who went away from this place: "He shall return here no more,

12. but will die in the place to which he has been taken captive; and he will never see this country again.

12. but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again."

13. 'Disaster for the man who builds his house without uprightness, his upstairs rooms without fair judgement, who makes his fellow-man work for nothing, without paying him his wages,

13. "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing, and does not give him his wages;

14. who says, "I shall build myself a spacious palace with airy upstairs rooms," who makes windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it vermilion.

14. who says, `I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,' and cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar, and painting it with vermilion.

15. Are you more of a king because of your passion for cedar? Did your father go hungry or thirsty? But he did what is just and upright, so all went well for him.

15. Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

16. He used to examine the cases of poor and needy, then all went well. Is not that what it means to know me? Yahweh demands.

16. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD.

17. You on the other hand have eyes and heart for nothing but your own interests, for shedding innocent blood and perpetrating violence and oppression.'

17. But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."

18. That is why Yahweh says this about Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: 'No lamenting for him, "My poor brother! My poor sister!" No lamenting for him, "His poor lordship! His poor majesty!"

18. Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoi'akim the son of Josi'ah, 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 majesty!'

19. He will have a donkey's funeral -- dragged away and thrown out of the gates of Jerusalem.'

19. With the burial of an ass he shall be buried, dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

20. 'Climb the Lebanon range and shriek, raise your voice in Bashan, shriek from the Abarim, for all your lovers have been ruined!

20. "Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry from Ab'arim, for all your lovers are destroyed.

21. I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, "I will not listen!" From your youth this has been how you behaved, refusing to listen to my voice.

21. I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, `I will not listen.' This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice.

22. The wind will shepherd all your shepherds away and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will blush deep with shame at the thought of all your wickedness.

22. The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your wickedness.

23. You who have made the Lebanon your home and made your nest among the cedars, how you will groan when anguish overtakes you, pangs like those of a woman in labour!

23. O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in travail!"

24. 'As I live, Yahweh declares, even if Coniah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, I would still wrench you off!

24. "As I live, says the LORD, though Coni'ah the son of Jehoi'akim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off

25. I shall hand you over to those determined to kill you, to those you dread, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to the Chaldaeans.

25. and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chalde'ans.

26. I shall hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country; you were not born there but you will both die there.

26. I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.

27. They will not return to the country to which they desperately long to return.'

27. But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return."

28. Is he a shoddy broken pot, this man Coniah, a crock that no one wants? Why are he and his offspring ejected, hurled into a country they know nothing of?

28. Is this man Coni'ah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land which they do not know?

29. O land, land, land, listen to the word of Yahweh!

29. O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

30. Yahweh says this, 'List this man as: Childless; a man who made a failure of his life, since none of his offspring will succeed in occupying the throne of David, or ruling in Judah again.'

30. Thus says the LORD: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days; for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David, and ruling again in Judah."