| Holman Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. | 1The LORD told me, "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there. |
| 2You are to say: Hear the word of the LORD, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David--you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates. | 2Say: 'Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David's succession. You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the LORD says. |
| 3This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Don't exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don't shed innocent blood in this place. | 3The LORD says, "Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. Do not kill innocent people in this land. |
| 4For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David's throne will enter through the gates of this palace riding on chariots and horses--they, their officers, and their people. | 4If you are careful to obey these commands, then the kings who follow in David's succession and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to come through the gates of this palace, as will their officials and their subjects. |
| 5But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself"--this is the LORD's declaration--"that this house will become a ruin." | 5But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the LORD, affirm it!" |
| 6For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: You are like Gilead to Me, or the summit of Lebanon, but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness, uninhabited cities. | 6"'For the LORD says concerning the palace of the king of Judah, "This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me. It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes. But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness whose towns have all been deserted. |
| 7I will appoint destroyers against you, each with his weapons. They will cut down the choicest of your cedars and throw them into the fire. | 7I will send men against it to destroy it with their axes and hatchets. They will hack up its fine cedar panels and columns and throw them into the fire. |
| 8"Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, 'Why did the LORD do such a thing to this great city?' | 8"'People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, "Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?" |
| 9They will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God and worshiped and served other gods.'" | 9The answer will come back, "It is because they broke their covenant with the LORD their God and worshiped and served other gods." |
| 10Do not weep for the dead; do not mourn for him. Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away, for he will never return again and see his native land. | 10"'Do not weep for the king who was killed. Do not grieve for him. But weep mournfully for the king who has gone into exile. For he will never return to see his native land again. |
| 11For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: "He has left this place--he will never return here again, | 11"'For the LORD has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, "He will never return to this land. |
| 12but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again." | 12For he will die in the country where they took him as a captive. He will never see this land again." |
| 13Woe for the one who builds his palace through unrighteousness, his upper rooms through injustice, who makes his fellow man serve without pay and will not give him his wages, | 13"'Sure to be judged is the king who builds his palace using injustice and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor. |
| 14who says, "I will build myself a massive palace, with spacious upper rooms." He will cut windows in it, and it will be paneled with cedar and painted with vermilion. | 14He says, "I will build myself a large palace with spacious upper rooms." He cuts windows in its walls, panels it with cedar, and paints its rooms red. |
| 15Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Didn't your father eat and drink and administer justice and righteousness? Then it went well with him. | 15Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. He did what was just and right. So things went well with him. |
| 16He took up the case of the poor and needy, then it went well. Is this not what it means to know Me? This is the LORD's declaration. | 16He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.' The LORD says, 'That is a good example of what it means to know me.' |
| 17But you have eyes and a heart for nothing except your own dishonest profit, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression. | 17But you are always thinking and looking for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means. Your eyes and your heart are set on killing some innocent person and committing fraud and oppression. |
| 18Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him, saying, "Woe, my brother!" or "Woe, my sister!" They will not mourn for him, saying, "Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!" | 18So the LORD has this to say about Josiah's son, King Jehoiakim of Judah: People will not mourn for him, saying, "This makes me sad, my brother! This makes me sad, my sister!" They will not mourn for him, saying, "Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!" |
| 19He will be buried like a donkey, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. | 19He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey. His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.'" |
| 20Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed. | 20People of Jerusalem, go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning. Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly. Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab. For your allies have all been defeated. |
| 21I spoke to you when you were secure. You said, "I will not listen." This has been your way since youth; indeed, you have never listened to Me. | 21While you were feeling secure I gave you warning. But you said, "I refuse to listen to you." That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward. Indeed, you have never paid attention to me. |
| 22The wind will take charge of all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your evil. | 22My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind! Your allies will go into captivity. Then you will certainly be disgraced and put to shame because of all the wickedness you have done. |
| 23You residents of Lebanon, nestled among the cedars, how you will groan when labor pains come on you, agony like a woman in labor. | 23You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you will groan when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. |
| 24"As I live," says the LORD, "though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would tear you from it. | 24The LORD says, "As surely as I am the living God, you, Jeconiah, king of Judah, son of Jehoiakim, will not be the earthly representative of my authority. Indeed, I will take that right away from you. |
| 25In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. | 25I will hand you over to those who want to take your life and of whom you are afraid. I will hand you over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Babylonian soldiers. |
| 26I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth to you into another land, where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. | 26I will force you and your mother who gave you birth into exile. You will be exiled to a country where neither of you were born, and you will both die there. |
| 27They will never return to the land they long to return to." | 27You will never come back to this land to which you will long to return!" |
| 28Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot, a jar no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they have not known? | 28This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away. He will be like a clay vessel that no one wants. Why will he and his children be forced into exile? Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about? |
| 29Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD! | 29O land of Judah, land of Judah, land of Judah! Listen to what the LORD has to say! |
| 30This is what the LORD says: Record this man as childless, a man who will not be successful in his lifetime. None of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah. | 30The LORD says, "Enroll this man in the register as though he were childless. Enroll him as a man who will not enjoy success during his lifetime. For none of his sons will succeed in occupying the throne of David or ever succeed in ruling over Judah." |
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