Jer 22 | ESV | STEP | Thus says the Lord : Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word ,

1 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ^a‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^bDo justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^cdo no wrong or violence ^dto the resident alien, ^ethe fatherless, and the widow, nor ^fshed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, ^gthen 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 will not obey these words, I ^hswear by myself, declares the Lord, that ⁱthis house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of ^jLebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
^kan uninhabited city. ^{▼▼Hebrew cities}
7 ^mI will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
ⁿand they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.

8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ^o“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 ^pAnd they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

10 ^qWeep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
^rbut weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and ^swho went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but ^tin the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

13 ^u“Woe to him who builds his house by ^vunrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
^wwho makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and ^xpainting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and ^ydo justice and righteousness?
^zThen it was well with him.
16 ^aaHe judged the cause of the poor and needy;
^abthen it was well.
Is not this ^acto know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
^adfor shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”

18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^ae“They shall not lament for him, saying,
^af‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
^ag‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey ^ahhe shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from ^aiAbarim,
for all ^ajyour lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
^akThis has been your way from ^alyour youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 ^amThe wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and ^anyour lovers shall go into captivity;
^aothen you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of ^apLebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
^aqpain as of a woman in labor!”

24 ^ar“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^asthe signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and ^atgive you ^auinto the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 ^avI will hurl you and ^awthe mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

28 Is this man ^axConiah a despised, broken pot,
a ^ayvessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a ^azland that they do not know?
29 ^baO land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as ^bbchildless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
^bcfor none of his offspring shall succeed
^bdin sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”