Judgment Against Wicked Kings

22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king(A) of Judah and proclaim this message there: ‘Hear(B) the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne(C)—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.(D) This is what the Lord says: Do what is just(E) and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor(F) the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow,(G) and do not shed innocent blood(H) in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings(I) who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey(J) these commands, declares the Lord, I swear(K) by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”

For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:

“Though you are like Gilead(L) to me,
    like the summit of Lebanon,(M)
I will surely make you like a wasteland,(N)
    like towns not inhabited.
I will send destroyers(O) against you,
    each man with his weapons,
and they will cut(P) up your fine cedar beams
    and throw them into the fire.(Q)

“People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’(R) And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.(S)’”

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Exhortation to Repent

22 Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,(A) and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.(B) Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.(C) For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people. But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.(D) For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

You are like Gilead to me,
    like the summit of Lebanon,
but I swear that I will make you a desert,
    uninhabited cities.(E)
I will prepare destroyers against you,
    all with their weapons;
they shall cut down your choicest cedars
    and cast them into the fire.(F)

And many nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say one to another, “Why has the Lord dealt in this way with that great city?”(G) And they will answer, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”(H)

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