1Thus says the LORD; “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah, and proclaim there this message: 2‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit upon the throne of David, you, and your officials, and your people that come through these gates; 3Thus says the LORD; “Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue those exploited by their oppressors. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you are diligent to do this, then kings shall indeed sit upon the throne of David, entering through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, the king, his officials, and his people. 5But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.” 6For this is what the LORD says to the palace of Judah; “Although you are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; yet surely, I will make you a wasteland, with deserted cities. 7And I will dispatch destroyers against you, each with his weapon; and they shall cut down your choice cedar beams, and throw them into the fire. 8And people from many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say to each other, ‘Why has the LORD done this to this great city?’ 9Then they shall answer, ‘Because they have forsaken their covenant with the LORD, their God, and worshipped and served other gods.’”

10Do not weep for the dead, nor mourn for them; but rather weep bitterly for him that is exiled; for he shall never return, nor ever again see his native country. 11For thus says the LORD about Shallum, son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah, his father, who has gone from this place, “He shall never return. 12But he shall die where they have led him captive, and shall never again see this land.”

13Woe to him (Jehoiakim) who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor's labor without wages, not paying him for his work; 14Who says, “I will build myself a large palace with spacious rooms”, and cuts out large windows; and panels it with cedar, and paints it red. 15Shall you reign like a king because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did your father (Josiah) not eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness, and then it went well with him? 16He defended the poor and needy; and it was well with him.

“Was this not what it means to know Me?” says the LORD. 17“But your eyes and your heart are all about envy, greed, for shedding innocent blood, oppression, and violence 18Therefore, thus says the LORD regarding Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah; ‘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!” 19He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged, and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.’

20“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and raise your voice in Bashan, and shout from the passes; for all your friends and allies are destroyed. 21I warned you when you were prosperous and secure; but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your manner from your youth - ignoring Me. 22The wind shall drive all your shepherds, and your allies away as captives; surely then you shall see the error of your ways and be ashamed and contrite. 23O you who live in your cozy palace, lined with cedar from Lebanon, how gracious will you feel when pangs of a woman in labor come upon you!

24“As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “Even if Coniah (Jehoiachin), son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were as dear to Me as the signet upon My right hand, I would still pluck you out from there; 25And I will hand you over to those who seek your life, to those whose faces you fear, to the Chaldeans, and to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. 26And I will throw you out, with your mother who bore you, into another country, where neither of you were born; and there you shall die. 27But you shall never return to the land that you long to return to. 28Is this man Coniah a despised broken clay pot, a vessel out of favor and discarded? Why are they, he and his children, cast out into a land strange to them? 29O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD! 30Thus says the LORD, ‘Let the record of this man show him as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his lifetime; for no son of his shall prosper, or sit upon the throne of David, and rule any more in Judah.’”