Christian Standard Bible

King James Bible

1This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.

1Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

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.

2And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

3This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor. Don't exploit or brutalize the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow. Don't shed innocent blood in this place.

3Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

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.

4For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

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 ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

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.

6For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

7I will set apart destroyers against you, each with his weapons. They will cut down the choicest of your cedars and throw them into the fire.

7And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast 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?'

8And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

9They will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed in worship to other gods and served them.'"

9Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

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.

10Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

11For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah, and who has left this place: "He will never return here again,

11For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

12but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again."

12But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

13Woe for the one who builds his palace through unrighteousness, his upstairs rooms through injustice, who makes his neighbor serve without pay and will not give him his wages,

13Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

14who says, "I will build myself a massive palace, with spacious upstairs rooms." He will cut windows in it, and it will be paneled with cedar and painted bright red.

14That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

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.

15Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was 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 judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.

17But you have eyes and a heart for nothing except your own dishonest profit, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression.

17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

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!"

18Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the 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 will be buried like a donkey, dragged off and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates.

19He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond 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.

20Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

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.

21I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.

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.

22The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

23You residents of Lebanon, nestled among the cedars, how you will groan when pains come on you, agony like a woman in labor.

23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

24"As I live"--this is the LORD's declaration--"though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would tear you from it.

24As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

25In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who intend to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.

25And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

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.

26And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

27They will never return to the land they long to return to."

27But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not 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?

28Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

29Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD!

29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

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.

30Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.