Jeremiah

JEREMIAH 21:11
11 “ Say this to Judah’s royal family:
‘ Listen to the message from the Lord.
12 Family of David,* this is what the Lord
says:
You must judge people fairly every day.
Protect the victims from the criminals.
If you don’t do that,
then I will become very angry.
My anger will be like a fire
that no one will be able to put out.
This will happen because you
have done evil things.’
13 “ Jerusalem, I am against you.
You sit on top of the mountain.
You sit like a queen over this valley.
You people of Jerusalem say,
‘ No one can attack us.
No one can come into our strong city.’
But listen to this message from the Lord:
14 ‘ You will get the punishment you deserve.
I will start a fire in your forests
that will completely burn everything
around you.’”
Judgment Against Evil Kings
22 1The Lord said, “Jeremiah, go down
to the king’s palace. Go to the king of
Judah* and tell this message there: 2‘Listen to
this message from the Lord, King of Judah.
You rule from David’s* throne, so listen. King,
you and your officials must listen well. All of
your people who come through the gates of
Jerusalem must listen to the message from
the Lord. 3This is what the Lord says: Do
what is right and fair. Protect those who have
been robbed from the ones who robbed them.
Don’t hurt or do anything wrong to orphans
or widows. Don’t kill innocent people. 4If
you obey these commands, kings who sit on
David’s throne will continue to come through
the gates into the city of Jerusalem. They will
come through the gates with their officials.
The kings, their officials, and their people
will come riding in chariots* and on horses.
5But if you don’t obey these commands, this
is what the Lord says: I, the Lord, promise
that this king’s palace will be destroyed—it
will become a pile of rocks.’”
6This is what the Lord says about the palace
where the king of Judah lives:
“ The palace is tall like the forests of Gilead,
like the mountains of Lebanon.
But I will make it like a desert,
as empty as a city where no one lives.
7 I will send men to destroy the palace,
each armed with weapons.
They will cut up your strong, beautiful
cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.
8“People from many nations will pass by
this city. They will ask one another, ‘Why
has the Lord done such a terrible thing to
Jerusalem? Jerusalem was such a great city.’
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9This will be the answer to that question:
‘God destroyed Jerusalem because the people
of Judah stopped following the agreement
of the Lord their God. They worshiped and
served other gods.’”
Judgment Against King Jehoahaz
10 Don’t cry for the king who has died. a
Don’t cry for him.
But cry very hard for the king
who must leave this place. b
Cry for him because he will never return
or see his homeland again.
11This is what the Lord says about
Jehoahaz c son of Josiah, who became king of
Judah after his father Josiah died: “Jehoahaz
has gone away from Jerusalem. He will never
return. 12Jehoahaz will die in the place where
the Egyptians have taken him, and he will not
see this land again.”
Judgment Against King Jehoiakim
13 “ It will be very bad for King Jehoiakim.
He is doing wrong so that he can build
his palace.
He is cheating people so that he can
build rooms upstairs.
He is not paying his own people.
He is making them work for nothing.
14 “ Jehoiakim says,
‘ I will build myself a great palace, with
huge rooms upstairs.’
So he built it with large windows.
He used cedar wood for paneling, and
he painted it red.
15 “ Jehoiakim, having a lot of cedar in your
house
does not make you a great king.
Your father Josiah was satisfied to have
food and drink.
He did what was right and fair,
so everything went well for him.
16 Josiah helped poor and needy people,
so everything went well for him.
Jehoiakim, what does it mean “to know
God”?
It means living right and being fair.
That is what it means to know me.
This message is from the Lord.
a 22:10 the king who has died That is, King Josiah
who was killed in battle against the Egyptians in
609 b.c.
b 22:10 the king … place This means Josiah’s son,
Jehoahaz. He became king after Josiah died. He is
also called Shallum. King Neco of Egypt defeated
Josiah. And Neco took Jehoahaz off the throne of
Judah and made him a prisoner in Egypt.
c 22:11 Jehoahaz The Hebrew text has “Shallum,”
another name for Jehoahaz.