Jeremiah 22

Message to the House of David

1 Thus says the Lord: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, w 'Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: x Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And y do no wrong or violence z to the resident alien, x the fatherless, and the widow, nor a shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, b then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I c swear by myself, declares the Lord, that d this house shall become a desolation.

6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
"'You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of e Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
f an uninhabited city. 1
7 g I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
h and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.

8 "'And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, i "Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?" 9 j And they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them."'"

10 k Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
l but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and m who went away from this place: "He shall return here no more, 12 but m in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again."

13 n "Woe to him who builds his house by o unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
p who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, 'I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,'
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and q painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and r do justice and righteousness?
s Then it was well with him.
16 t He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
s then it was well.
Is not this u to know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
v for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence."

18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
w "They shall not lament for him, saying,
x 'Ah, my brother!' or 'Ah, sister!'
They shall not lament for him, saying,
y 'Ah, lord!' or 'Ah, his majesty!'
19 With the burial of a donkey z he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

20 "Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from a Abarim,
for all b your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, 'I will not listen.'
c This has been your way from d your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 e The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and b your lovers shall go into captivity;
f then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of g Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
h pain as of a woman in labor!"

24 i "As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were j the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and k give you l into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 m I will hurl you and n the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return."

28 Is this man o Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a p vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a q land that they do not know?
29 r O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
"Write this man down as s childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
t for none of his offspring shall succeed
t in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah."

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 21:12
    O house of David! Thus says the Lord : "'Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.'
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:5 - 6
    For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another.
    Jeremiah 21:12
    O house of David! Thus says the Lord : "'Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.
  3. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:5 - 6
    For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another.
    Jeremiah 21:12
    O house of David! Thus says the Lord : "'Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.
  4. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:33
    When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 82:3
    Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
    Isaiah 1:17
    Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
  6. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:17
    But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.
    Jeremiah 26:15
    Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.
  7. Cross References
    Jeremiah 17:25
    Then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 49:13
    For I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.
    Jeremiah 51:14
    The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself: Surely I will fill you with men, as many as locusts, and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
    Genesis 22:16
    And said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son.
    Amos 6:8
    The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts: "I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.
    Hebrews 6:13
    For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:34
    And I will silence in the cities of Judah and i...
    Jeremiah 25:11
    This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste...
    Jeremiah 25:18
    Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings an...
    Jeremiah 44:6
    Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out...
    Jeremiah 44:22
    The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds a...
    Isaiah 64:10
    Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion...
    Ezekiel 5:14
    Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an o...
  10. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:20
    Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.
    Jeremiah 22:23
    O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!
  11. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:8
    Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:4
    Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen!
  13. Cross References
    2 Kings 19:23
    By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest.
    Isaiah 37:24
    By your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon, to cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses, to come to its remotest height, its most fruitful forest.
  14. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:19
    And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 29:25 - 26
    Then people will say, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
  16. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:24 - 25
    So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:11
    For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: "He shall return here no more.
  18. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:34
    And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there.
    2 Chronicles 36:4
    And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.
    Ezekiel 19:4
    The nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
  19. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:11
    For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: "He shall return here no more.
  20. Cross References
    Habakkuk 2:12
    Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!
    Isaiah 5:18 - 23
    Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes.
  21. Cross References
    Micah 3:10
    Who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.
  22. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:13
    You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
    Leviticus 25:39 - 40
    If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:
    Deuteronomy 24:14 - 15
    You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.
    James 5:4
    Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
  23. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:14
    But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion.
  24. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:25
    Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
  25. Cross References
    Psalms 128:2
    You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
    Ecclesiastes 8:12
    Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.
    Isaiah 3:10
    Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
  26. Cross References
    Proverbs 31:9
    Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
    Isaiah 1:17
    Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
  27. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:15
    Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
  28. Cross References
    Judges 2:10
    And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
  29. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:3
    Thus says the Lord : Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
    Jeremiah 26:15
    Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.
  30. Cross References
    Psalms 78:64
    Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
    Jeremiah 16:4 - 6
    They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
  31. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:30
    And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!
  32. Cross References
    Jeremiah 34:5
    You shall die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, "Alas, lord!"' For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:2
    And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground.
    Jeremiah 36:30
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night.
    Isaiah 14:19
    But you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot.
  34. Cross References
    Numbers 27:12
    The Lord said to Moses, "Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel.
    Deuteronomy 32:49
    Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession.
  35. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:1
    If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.
  36. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:25
    Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.
  37. Cross References
    Psalms 129:1 - 2
    Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth" - let Israel now say -
  38. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:1
    Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the Lord.
    Ezekiel 34:10
    Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
  39. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:20
    Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.
  40. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:25
    Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.
  41. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:6
    For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: "'You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.
  42. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:24
    We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor.
    Isaiah 13:8
    They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
  43. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:18
    Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.
    Ezekiel 5:11
    Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.
  44. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:8
    So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.
    Song of Solomon 8:6
    Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
    Haggai 2:23
    On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.
  45. Cross References
    Jeremiah 34:20
    And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
  46. Cross References
    Jeremiah 39:17
    But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.
    Deuteronomy 1:17
    You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
  47. Cross References
    2 Kings 24:15
    And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
    2 Chronicles 36:10
    In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
  48. Cross References
    2 Kings 24:8
    Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
  49. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:24
    As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off
  50. Cross References
    Jeremiah 48:38
    On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord.
    Psalms 31:12
    I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
    Hosea 8:8
    Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel.
  51. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:14
    I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.
  52. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:2
    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.
  53. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 3:17
    And the sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son.
    Matthew 1:12
    And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.
  54. Cross References
    Jeremiah 36:30
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night.
  55. Cross References
    Jeremiah 36:30
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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