deliver him who is plundered Out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.
13 “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, And rock of the plain,” says the LORD, “Who say, “Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter our dwellings?’
14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,” says the LORD; “I will kindle a fire in its forest, And it shall devour all things around it.”“‘
1 Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word,
2 and say, “Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates!
3 Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you indeed do this thing, then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David.
5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the LORD, “that this house shall become a desolation.”“‘
6 For thus says the LORD to the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to Me, The head of Lebanon; Yet I surely will make you a wilderness, Cities which are not inhabited.
7 I will prepare destroyers against you, Everyone with his weapons; They shall cut down your choice cedars And cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD done so to this great city?’
9 Then they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.”‘
10 Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; Weep bitterly for him who goes away, For he shall return no more, Nor see his native country.
11 For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went from this place: “He shall not return here anymore,
12 but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness And his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work,
14 Who says, “I will build myself a wide house with spacious chambers, And cut out windows for it, Paneling it with cedar And painting it with vermilion.’
15 “Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; Then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?” says the LORD.
17 “Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, For shedding innocent blood, And practicing oppression and violence.”
18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him, Saying, “Alas, my brother!’ or “Alas, my sister!’ They shall not lament for him, Saying, “Alas, master!’ or “Alas, his glory!’
19 He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry from Abarim, For all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, “I will not hear.’ This has been your manner from your youth, That you did not obey My voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all your rulers, And your lovers shall go into captivity; Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated For all your wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, Making your nest in the cedars, How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you, Like the pain of a woman in labor?
24 “As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off;
25 and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 So I will cast you out, and your 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 desire to return, there they shall not return.
28 “Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol— A vessel in which is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, And cast into a land which they do not know?
29 O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the LORD!
30 Thus says the LORD: “Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.”‘
1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.
2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD.
3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
8 but, “As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
9 My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right.
11 “For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.
12 “Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment,” says the LORD.
13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err.
14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery
