Thus saith
the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of
Judah, and speak there this word,
02 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:
03 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.
04 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.
05 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear
by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall
become a desolation.
06 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.
07 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.
08 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?
09 Then they shall answer, Because they have
forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and
worshipped other gods, and served them.
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.
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:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they
have led him captive, and shall see this land no
more.
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;
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.
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?
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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.
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.
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!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,
drawn and cast forth 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.
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.
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.
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!
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;
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.
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.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to
return, thither shall they not 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?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the
Lord.
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.
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