| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: | 1The LORD told me, "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there. |
| 2Hear the word of the LORD to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David's throne--you, your officials and your people who come through 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: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not 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 are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials 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 commands, declares the LORD, I swear by myself that this palace 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 about the palace of the king of Judah: "Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like towns not inhabited. | 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 send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams 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"People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, 'Why has the LORD done 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?" |
| 9And the answer will be: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have 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 king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled, because he will never return nor see his native land again. | 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 about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: "He will never return. | 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. |
| 12He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again." | 12For he will die in the country where they took him as a captive. He will never see this land again." |
| 13"Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor. | 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. |
| 14He 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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.' |
| 17"But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion." | 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 about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "They will not mourn for him: 'Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!' They will not mourn for him: 'Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!' | 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 have the burial of a donkey-- dragged away 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.'" |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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 drive all your shepherds away, and your allies will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness. | 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 who live in 'Lebanon,' who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of 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 surely as I live," declares the LORD, "even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. | 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. |
| 25I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear--Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. | 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 you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will 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. |
| 27You will never come back to the land you long to return to." | 27You will never come back to this land to which you will long to return!" |
| 28Is 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? | 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? |
| 29O land, land, land, 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 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." | 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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