Yirmeyahu 22 ירמיהו כ״ב

Thus says the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of Yehuda, and speak there this word,

and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Yehuda, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

thus says the Lord; Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

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

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

For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Yehuda; Thou art as Gil῾ad to me, the summit of Levanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

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.

And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Why has the Lord done so to this great city?

Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.

For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Yoshiyyahu king of Yehuda, who reigned instead of Yoshiyyahu his father, who went forth out of this place; He shall not return there any more:

but he shall die in the place to which they have led him into exile, and shall see this land no more.

Woe to him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that uses his neighbour’s service without wages, and gives him not for his hire;

that says, I will build me a wide house with large upper chambers, and he cuts him out windows; and it is covered with rafters of cedar, and painted with vermilion.

Shalt thou reign, because thou dost compete in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? says the Lord.

But thou hast eyes and heart only for thy dishonest gain, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for practising violence.

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Yehoyaqim the son of Yoshiyyahu king of Yehuda, 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!

He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Yerushalayim.

Go up to Levanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from ῾Avarim: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

I spoke to thee in thy prosperity; but thou didst say, I will not hear. This has been thy manner from thy youth, that thou didst not obey my voice.

The wind shall drive away all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

O inhabitant of Levanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how pitiable shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

As I live, says the Lord, though Konyahu the son of Yehoyaqim king of Yehuda were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I tear thee off;

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 Nevukhadreżżar king of Bavel, and into the hand of the Kasdim.

And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bore thee, into another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die.

But to the land to which they desire to return, to it shall they not return.

Is this man Konyahu a despised broken vessel, an object that no one cares for? why are they cast out, he and his seed, and banished to a land which they know not?

O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord, Write 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 Yehuda.