Jeremiah 22
22
Yahweh’s Message to King Zedekiah
1Yahweh spoke these words to Jeremiah: “Go to the palace of the king of Judah and give him my word. 2Say: ‘Listen to the word of Yahweh, king of Judah, who occupies the throne of David, your officials, and people who enter these gates! 3Yahweh says to you: Be concerned for justice and righteousness. Rescue the one who is robbed from his oppressor. Do not exploit or mistreat the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Stop the violence and do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place. 4For if you fulfill this command, then there will be kings of David’s lineage to pass through the city’s gates. The kings and their officials will be riding in chariots or riding horses and will be accompanied by the people. 5But I swear by myself as a witness, if you do not obey these commands, then this palace shall become a ruin, declares Yahweh!’ ”
6Yes, listen to what Yahweh thinks about Judah’s royal palace:
“You are as glorious as Gilead to me,
as beautiful as the summit of Lebanon;
but I swear that I will make you as empty as a desert—
like a ghost town.
7I will appoint # 22:7 Or “sanctify.” a wrecking crew to destroy you,
each member with his weapons and tools.
They will cut down your pillars of choice cedar
and set them on fire.
8“When many foreigners pass by this city and each one asks another, ‘Why did Yahweh do this to such a great city?’ 9the reply will be, ‘Because they forsook the covenant with Yahweh their God and worshiped and served other gods.’ ”
Prophecy against King Jehoahaz
10Do not weep for King Josiah, who died,
and do not mourn for him;
rather, weep bitterly for King Jehoahaz,
who is carried away as a captive,
for he will never return to see the land of his birth.
11For this is what Yahweh has said concerning Shallum # 22:11 Shallum was another name for King Jehoahaz; it was possibly his name before he ascended to the throne. Shallum means “retribution.” Shallum reigned for three months after the death of his father, Josiah (609 BC), then was taken by Pharaoh Neco to Egypt, where he died (see 2 Kings 23:31–34; 2 Chron. 36:2–4). son of King Josiah of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah as king but was led away from here: “He will never return. 12He will die in the land of his exile, and he will never see his homeland again.”
Prophecy against King Jehoiakim
13“Doomed is the one who builds his house with unrighteousness,
and the upper chambers of his palace with injustice, # 22:13 The role of a king and every leader with authority is to promote righteousness and justice in society. King Jehoiakim did not follow that principle and used his authority to build his own palace at the expense of others.
who compels his fellow man to work for nothing
and pays him no wages for his hard labor.
14Doomed is the one who says,
‘I’ll build a vast palace for myself
with spacious upper chambers and large windows.
I’ll panel it with cedar and paint it red.’
15Does it make you a king just because you build
a finer house of cedar than others?
Your father lived a satisfying life, # 22:15 Or “Did not your father eat and drink?” This rhetorical question meant that his father, King Josiah, enjoyed the things of life.
yet he dispensed justice and righteousness—
and because of this, all went well with him.
16He upheld the rights of the poor and needy—
and look how well he did.
Whoever lives this way shows that he knows me,”
declares Yahweh.
17“But your eyes and heart are only interested
in what brings you unjust profit,
in violently oppressing your people
even if it means shedding innocent blood.”
18Therefore, Yahweh says to you, Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“No one will cry at your funeral or say,
‘How terrible! How sad!’
No one will weep for you or say,
‘How sad! Why did his majesty have to die?’ # 22:18 Or “Ah, my brother! Ah, my sister! Ah, lord! Ah, his majesty.” This was likely a common refrain people used at funerals of that day to console one another.
19He will have a donkey’s burial.
He will be dragged outside the gates of Jerusalem
and left on the ground to rot.”
Prophecy against Jerusalem
20“Go up to the peaks of Lebanon, you people of Jerusalem, and cry out.
Raise your voice in the heights of Bashan,
cry out from the mountains of Moab, # 22:20 Or “Abarim,” the mountainous region of Moab, of which Mount Nebo was the highest peak.
for all your lovers, the nations you trusted in, are crushed.
21I warned you in your prosperous times,
but you said, ‘I don’t want to hear it.’
You have treated me like that ever since your youth,
refusing to listen to me.
22Now you will be disgraced and humiliated
because of all your evil.
Your leaders will be swept away
like dust in the wind, # 22:22 Or “The wind will shepherd your shepherds [leaders].”
and your lovers, the nations you trusted in,
will be captured and dragged into captivity.
23You, O king, # 22:23 That is, King Jehoiakim of Judah (vv. 13–19). although you feel safely nested there
in your palace of cedar pillars from Lebanon,
you will be in pain and will groan like a woman giving birth!”
Prophecy against King Jehoiachin
24Yahweh declares, “As surely as I am the living God, listen, O King Jehoiachin # 22:24 King Jehoiachin became king of Judah in December 598 BC. His rule only lasted three months, after which he was deported to Babylon and held as a royal hostage (see 37:1). son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the royal signet ring I wear on my right hand, # 22:24 Both the signet ring (see Hag. 2:23) and the right hand were symbols of power and authority. I would still pull you from my finger. 25I will hand you over to the power of those who seek your life, into the hands of those you dread—King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians. # 22:25 Or “Chaldeans.” 26I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into a foreign land, where neither of you were born and where both of you will die. 27Your people will be in exile and will not return to the land to which they yearn to come back. # 22:27 Or “they lift up their souls to come back to.”
28“Is this man Coniah # 22:28 Coniah and Jeconiah are variant forms of Jehoiachin. now thrown away
like a worthless, broken pot that no one wants?
Why are he and his offspring hurled out
and taken away to a land they knew not?
29Land of Judah! My land! My land! # 22:29 The three-fold repetition of “land” indicates that God is emphatically calling the land itself to bear witness to what he decrees.
Hear the word of Yahweh!”
30Yahweh decrees:
“List this man as ‘Childless,’
one who will never succeed in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will be accepted
to sit on the throne of David and rule in Judah again.”
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 22: TPT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Passion Translation® is a registered trademark of Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Learn more about The Passion Translation