Jeremiah

22 Thus said Yahweh, Go thou down to the house of king of Judah, and speak thou there this word,

2 and say—Hear thou the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sittest upon the throne of David,—thou and thy servants and thy people who enter in at these gates

3 Thus saith Yahweh,—Execute ye justice and righteousness, And deliver the robbed out of the hand of the oppressor,—But the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow do not oppress neither commit violence, And the blood of the innocent do not ye shed in this place.

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

5 But if ye will not hear these words By myself have I sworn Declareth Yahweh—That a ruin shall this house become.

6 For Thus saith Yahweh Concerning the house of the king of Judah,—Though thou wast Gilead to me The summit of Lebanon Yet surely I will make thee, A wilderness, Cities not habitable;

7 And I will hallow against thee Destroyers, Every man with his weapons,—And they shall cut down of the choicest of thy cedars, and cast upon the fire.

8 Then shall many nations pass by this city,—and shall say every man to his neighbour, For what cause hath Yahweh done thus unto this great city?

9 And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh their God,—And bowed down to other gods And served them.

10 Do not ye lament for him that is dead Neither bemoan ye him, But weep ye—weep on—for him that is going away, For he shall not return any more Nor see the land of his birth.

11 For Thus saith Yahweh—Touching Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah That reigneth instead of Josiah his father, Who hath gone forth out of this place, He shall not return thither any more;

12 For in the place whither they have taken him captive There shall he die,—And this land shall he see no more.

13 Alas! for him who buildeth His house without righteousness, And his roof-chambers without justice,—Of his neighbour taketh service for nought, And recompense for his work giveth him not.

14 Who saith—I will build me a roomy house, with spacious roof-chambers,—So he cutteth him open its windows, And it is covered in with cedar And he painteth it with vermilion.

15 Shalt thou reign because thou art eager to excel in cedar? Thy father did he not eat and drink and do justice and righteousness, And then it was well with him?

16 [Did he not] plead the cause of the oppressed and the needy And then it was well? Was not that to know me? Demandeth Yahweh.

17 Verily thou hast neither eyes nor heart save for thy plundering and for thy shedding of innocent blood and for oppression and for crushing to do them!

18 Therefore—Thus saith Yahweh, Touching Jehoiakim son of Josiah King of Judah They shall not cry in lament for him Alas my brother! or Alas sister! They shall not cry in lament for him Alas lord! or Alas! his renown!

19 With the burial of an ass shall he be buried,—Dragged along and cast forth, beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Ascend the Lebanon and make outcry, And in Bashan put forth thy voice,—And make outcry from Abarim, For all thy lovers are torn in pieces.

21 I spake unto thee in thy carelessness,—Thou saidst, I will not hearken! This hath been thy way from thy youth, That thou hast not hearkened to my voice.

22 All thy shepherds the wind shall feed, And thy lovers into captivity shall depart,—Surely then shalt thou turn pale and be confounded, by reason of all thy wickedness.

23 O inhabitress of Lebanon that makest thy nest in the cedars,—How hast thou bemoaned thyself Now that pangs have overtaken thee, Anguish as of her that giveth birth.

24 As I live Declareth Yahweh,—Even though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet-ring upon my right hand yet from thence would I pull thee off;

25 and I would give thee into the hand of them who seek thy life and into the hand of them from the face of whom thou dost shrink in fear,—even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans;

26 and I will hurl thee out and thy mother who bare thee, upon another land where ye were not born,—and there shall ye die.

27 But unto the land whither they shall be lifting up their souls to return thither shall they not return.

28 An earthen vessel to be despised, thrown about is this man Coniah? Or an instrument in which is no pleasure? Wherefore are they to be cast out, he and his seed, and to be thrown forth upon a land which they have not known?

29 O land, land, land! Hear thou the word of Yahweh!

30 Thus saith Yahweh,—Register ye this man childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days,—For there shall prosper of his seed No man sitting upon the throne of David, Or ruling any more over Judah.