1Thus said Jehovah : Go down to the house of the king of Judah , and speak there this word , 2and say , Hear the word of Jehovah , O king of Judah , that sittest upon the throne of David , thou , and thy servants , and thy people that enter in by these gates . 3Thus saith Jehovah : Execute ye justice and righteousness , and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor : and do no wrong , do no violence , to the sojourner , the fatherless , nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place . 4For 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 . 5But if ye will not hear these words , I swear by myself, saith Jehovah , that this house shall become a desolation .
The Fate of Jehoiakim
6For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king 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 . 7And 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. 8And many nations shall pass by this city , and they shall say every man to his neighbor , Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city ? 9Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God , and worshipped other gods, and served them .
The Call to Repentance
10Weep 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. 11For thus saith Jehovah touching Shallum the son of Josiah , king of Judah , who reigned instead of Josiah his father , and who went forth out of this place : He shall not return thither any more ; 12but in the place whither they have led him captive , there shall he die , and he shall see this land no more .
The Judgment on Jerusalem
13Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness , and his chambers by injustice ; that useth his neighbor ’s service without wages , and giveth him not his hire; 14that saith, I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers , and cutteth him out windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion . 15Shalt thou reign , because thou strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink , and do justice and righteousness ? then it was well with him . 16He judged the cause of the poor and needy ; then it was well . Was not this to know me ? saith Jehovah . 17But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness , and for shedding innocent blood , and for oppression , and for violence , to do it . 18Therefore thus saith Jehovah 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 ! 19He shall be buried with the burial of an ass , drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem . 20Go up to Lebanon , and cry ; and lift up thy voice in Bashan , and cry from Abarim ; for all thy lovers are destroyed . 21I 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 . 22The wind shall feed all thy shepherds , and thy lovers shall go into captivity : surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness . 23O inhabitant of Lebanon , that makest thy nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail ! 24As I live , saith Jehovah , though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand , yet would I pluck thee thence ; 25and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life , and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid , even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans . 26And I will cast thee out , and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born ; and there shall ye die . 27But to the land whereunto their soul longeth to return , thither shall they not return . 28Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel ? is he a vessel wherein none delighteth? wherefore are they cast out , he and his seed , and are cast into the land which they know not ? 29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah . 30Thus saith Jehovah , Write ye this man childless , a man that shall not prosper in his days ; for no more shall a man of his seed prosper , sitting upon the throne of David , and ruling in Judah .