13 "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor. |
14 He says, 'I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.'
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red. |
15 "Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him. |
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the LORD . |
17 "But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and extortion." |
18 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: |
19 He will have the burial of a donkey-
dragged away and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem." |
20 "Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
let your voice be heard in Bashan,
cry out from Abarim,
for all your allies are crushed. |
21 I warned you when you felt secure,
but you said, 'I will not listen!'
This has been your way from your youth;
you have not obeyed me. |
22 The wind will drive all your shepherds away,
and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
because of all your wickedness. |
23 You who live in 'Lebanon,2 22:23 That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2) '
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain like that of a woman in labor! |
24 "As surely as I live," declares the LORD , "even if you, Jehoiachin3 22:24 Hebrew Coniah , a variant of Jehoiachin ; also in verse 28 son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. |
25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear-to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians.4 22:25 Or Chaldeans |
26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. |
27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to." |
28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know? |
29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD ! |
30 This is what the LORD says:
"Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah." |
