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[1]Thussaid the Lord, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this thing,
[2]Andsay, 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.
[3]Thussaith the Lord, Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor, and vex not the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow: do no violence, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
[4]Forif ye do this thing, then shall the kings sitting upon the throne of David enter in by the gates of this house, and ride upon chariots, and upon horses, both he and his servants and his people.
[5]Butif ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall be waste.
[6]Forthus hath the Lord spoken upon 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 as cities not inhabited,
[7]AndI will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons, and they shall cut down thy chief cedar trees, and cast them in the fire.
[8]Andmany nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?
[9]Thenshall they answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.
[10]Weepnot for the dead, and be not moved for them, but weep for him that goeth out: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
[11]Forthus saith the Lord, As touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned for Josiah his father, which went out of this place, he shall not return thither,
[12]Buthe shall die in the place, whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
[13]Woeunto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers without equity: he useth his neighbor without wages, and giveth him not for his work.
[14]Hesaith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers: so he will make himself large windows, and feeling with cedar, and paint them with vermilion.
[15]Shaltthou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink and prosper, when he executed judgment and justice?
[16]Whenhe judged the cause of the afflicted and the poor, he prospered: was not this because he knew me, saith the Lord?
[17]Butthine eyes and thine heart are but only for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for destruction, even to do this.
[18]Thereforethus saith the Lord against Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, They shall not lament him, saying, Ah, my brother, or ah, sister: neither shall they mourn for him, saying, Ah, lord, or ah, his glory.
[19]Heshall be buried, as an ass is buried, even drawn and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem.
[20]Goup to Lebanon, and cry: shout in Bashan and cry by the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
[21]Ispake unto thee when thou wast in prosperity: but thou saidest, I will not hear: this hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou wouldest not obey my voice.
[22]Thewind shall feed all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: and then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded of all thy wickedness.
[23]Thouthat dwellest in Lebanon, and makest thy nest in the cedars, how beautiful shalt thou be when sorrows come upon thee, as the sorrow of a woman in travail?
[24]AsI live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were the signet of my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.
[25]AndI 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
[26]AndI will cause them to carry thee away, and thy mother that bear thee, into another country, where ye were not born, and there shall ye die.
[27]Butto the land, whereunto they desire to return, they shall not return thither.
[28]Isnot this man Coniah as a despised and broken idol? Or as a vessel, wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they carried away, he and his seed, and cast out into a land that they know not?
[29]Oearth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.
[30]Thussaith the Lord, Write this man destitute of children, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for there shall be no man of his seed that shall prosper and sit upon the throne of David, or bear rule anymore in Judah.
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