| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, | 1This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. |
| 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates! | 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. |
| 3Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. | 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. |
| 4For if you indeed do this thing, then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David. | 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. |
| 5But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the LORD, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ’ ” | 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." |
| 6For thus says the LORD to the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to Me, The head of Lebanon; Yet I surely will make you a wilderness, Cities which are not inhabited. | 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. |
| 7I will prepare destroyers against you, Everyone with his weapons; They shall cut down your choice cedars And cast them into the fire. | 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. |
| 8And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the LORD done so to this great city?’ | 8"Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, 'Why did the LORD do such a thing to this great city?' |
| 9Then they will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.’ ” | 9They will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God and worshiped and served other gods.'" |
| 10Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; Weep bitterly for him who goes away, For he shall return no more, Nor see his native country. | 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. |
| 11For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went from this place: “He shall not return here anymore, | 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, |
| 12but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. | 12but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again." |
| 13“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness And his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work, | 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, |
| 14Who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house with spacious chambers, And cut out windows for it, Paneling it with cedar And painting it with vermilion.’ | 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. |
| 15“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. | 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. |
| 16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; Then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?” says the LORD. | 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. |
| 17“Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, For shedding innocent blood, And practicing oppression and violence.” | 17But you have eyes and a heart for nothing except your own dishonest profit, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression. |
| 18Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him, Saying, ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’ They shall not lament for him, Saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’ | 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!" |
| 19He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. | 19He will be buried like a donkey, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. |
| 20“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry from Abarim, For all your lovers are destroyed. | 20Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed. |
| 21I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, ‘I will not hear.’ This has been your manner from your youth, That you did not obey My voice. | 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. |
| 22The wind shall eat up all your rulers, And your lovers shall go into captivity; Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated For all your wickedness. | 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. |
| 23O inhabitant of Lebanon, Making your nest in the cedars, How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you, Like the pain of a woman in labor? | 23You residents of Lebanon, nestled among the cedars, how you will groan when labor pains come on you, agony like a woman in labor. |
| 24“As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; | 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. |
| 25and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. | 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. |
| 26So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. | 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. |
| 27But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return. | 27They will never return to the land they long to return to." |
| 28“Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol— A vessel in which is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, And cast into a land which they do not know? | 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? |
| 29O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the LORD! | 29Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD! |
| 30Thus says the LORD: ‘Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ” | 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. |
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