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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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22 Thus says Yahweh: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there. And you must say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates. Thus says Yahweh, “Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been seized from the hand of the oppressor. And you must not oppress the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place. And if you indeed obey this word, then kings who sit for David on his throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots[a] and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. But if you do not obey these words, I swear by myself,” declares[b] Yahweh, “that this house will become a site of ruins.”’”

For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah,

“You are like Gilead to me,
    like the head of the Lebanon.
Surely[c] I will make you a desert,[d]
    like cities that are not inhabited.
And I will consecrate against you destroyers,
    everyone with his weapons,
and they will cut down your choicest cedars,[e]
    and cast them[f] on the fire.

And many nations will pass by this city and they will say each one to his neighbor, ‘Why[g] has Yahweh done in this manner to this great city?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God, and bowed down in worship to other gods, and served them.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 22:4 Hebrew “chariot”
  2. Jeremiah 22:5 Literally “a declaration of”
  3. Jeremiah 22:6 Literally “If not”
  4. Jeremiah 22:6 Or “wilderness”
  5. Jeremiah 22:7 Literally “the choicest thing of your cedars”
  6. Jeremiah 22:7 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  7. Jeremiah 22:8 Literally “Over what”