22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, and say, (A)‘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. Thus says the Lord: (B)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And (C)do no wrong or violence (D)to the resident alien, (E)the fatherless, and the widow, nor (F)shed innocent blood in this place. For if you will indeed obey this word, (G)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. But if you will not obey these words, I (H)swear by myself, declares the Lord, that (I)this house shall become a desolation. For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“‘You are like Gilead to me,
    like the summit of (J)Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
    (K)an uninhabited city.[a]
(L)I will prepare destroyers against you,
    each with his weapons,
(M)and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
    and cast them into the fire.

“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, (N)“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” (O)And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 22:6 Hebrew cities

Judgment against Sinful Kings

22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. You are to say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David(A)—you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates. This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness.(B) Rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor.(C) Don’t exploit or brutalize the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow.(D) Don’t shed innocent blood in this place. For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace(E) riding on chariots and horses—they, their officers, and their people. But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by myself(F)—this is the Lord’s declaration—that this house will become a ruin.’”(G)

For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“You are like Gilead(H) to me,
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.
I will set apart destroyers(I) against you,
each with his weapons.
They will cut down the choicest of your cedars
and throw them into the fire.

“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’ They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant(J) of the Lord their God and bowed in worship to other gods and served them.’”(K)

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