Jeremiah 22 - Easy To Read Version

¹ The Lord said: “Jeremiah, go down to the king’s palace. Go to the king of Judah and preach this message there:

² ‘Listen to the message from the Lord, King of Judah. You rule from David’s throne, so listen. King, you and your officials must listen well. All of your people that come through the gates of Jerusalem must listen to the message from the Lord.

³ The Lord says: Do the things that are fair and right. Protect the person that has been robbed from the person that robbed him. Don’t hurt or do anything wrong to orphans {\cf2\super [171]} or widows. {\cf2\super [172]} Don’t kill innocent people.

⁴ If you obey these commands, then this is what will happen: kings that sit on David’s throne will continue to come through the gates into the city of Jerusalem. Those kings will come through the gates with their officials. Those kings, their officials, and their people will come riding in chariots {\cf2\super [173]} and on horses.

⁵ But if you don’t obey these commands, this is what the Lord says: I, the Lord, promise that this king’s palace {\cf2\super [174]} will be destroyed—it will become a pile of rocks.’”

⁶ This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives:

⁷ I will send men to destroy the palace.\par Each man will have weapons\par that he will use to destroy that house.\par Those men will cut up your strong,\par beautiful cedar beams.\par Those men will throw those beams\par into the fire.”\par

⁸ “People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem? Jerusalem was such a great city.’

⁹ This will be the answer to that question: ‘God destroyed Jerusalem because the people of Judah quit following the Agreement {\cf2\super [176]} of the Lord their God. Those people worshiped and served other gods.’”

¹⁰ Don’t cry for the king that has died. {\cf2\super [177]} \par Don’t cry for him.\par But cry very hard for the king\par that must leave this place. {\cf2\super [178]} \par Cry for him\par because he will never come back again.\par Jehoahaz will never see his homeland again.\par

¹¹ This is what the Lord says about Shallum (Jehoahaz) son of Josiah. (Shallum became king of Judah after his father Josiah died.) “Jehoahaz has gone away from Jerusalem. He will never come back to Jerusalem again.

¹² Jehoahaz will die in the place where the Egyptians have taken him. He will not see this land again.”

¹³ It will be very bad for King Jehoiakim.\par He is doing bad things\par so he can build his palace. {\cf2\super [179]} \par He is cheating people\par so he can build rooms upstairs.\par He is making his own people\par work for nothing.\par He is not paying them for their work.\par

¹⁴ Jehoiakim says,\par ‘I will build a great palace for myself.\par I will have large upper rooms.’\par So he builds the house with large windows.\par He uses cedar word for paneling,\par and he paints it red.\par

¹⁵ “Jehoiakim,\par having a lot of cedar in your house\par does not make you a great king.\par Your father Josiah was satisfied\par to have food and drink.\par He did what was right and fair.\par Josiah did that,\par so everything went well for him.\par

¹⁶ Josiah helped the poor and needy people.\par Josiah did that,\par so everything went well for him.\par Jehoiakim, what does it mean\par “to know God?”\par It means living right and being fair.\par That is what it means to know me.\par This message is from the Lord.\par

¹⁷ “Jehoiakim, your eyes look\par only for what benefits yourself.\par You are always thinking about\par getting more for yourself.\par You are willing to kill innocent people.\par You are willing to steal things\par from other people.”\par

¹⁸ So this is what the Lord says\par to King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:\par “The people of Judah will not cry\par for Jehoiakim.\par They will not say to each another,\par ‘Oh, my brother,\par \{I am so sad about Jehoiakim\}!\par Oh, my sister,\par \{I am so sad about Jehoiakim\}!’\par The people of Judah will not cry\par for Jehoiakim.\par They will not say about him,\par ‘Oh, master, \{I am so sad\}!\par Oh, King, \{I am so sad\}!’\par

¹⁹ The people of Jerusalem will bury Jehoiakim\par like they were burying a donkey.\par They will just drag his body away\par and throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.\par

²⁰ “Judah, go up to the mountains of Lebanon\par and cry out.\par Let your voice be heard\par in the mountains of Bashan.\par Cry out in the mountains of Abarim.\par Why? Because your ‘lovers’\par will all be destroyed.\par

²¹ Judah, you felt safe.\par But I warned you!\par I warned you,\par but you refused to listen.\par You have lived like this\par from the time you were young.\par And from the time you were young,\par you have not obeyed me, Judah.\par

²² Judah, the punishment I give\par will come like a storm.\par And it will blow all your shepherds away.\par You thought some of the other nations\par would help you.\par But those nations will also be defeated.\par Then you will really be disappointed.\par You will be ashamed of all the bad things\par that you did.\par

²³ King, you live high on the mountain\par in your house made from cedar wood.\par It is almost like you live in Lebanon\par where that wood came from.\par \{You think you are safe,\par high on the mountain in your big house.\}\par But you will really groan\par when your punishment comes.\par You will hurt like a woman\par giving birth to a baby.”\par

²⁴ “As surely as I live,” this message is from the Lord, “I will do this to you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: Even if you were a signet ring {\cf2\super [180]} on my right hand, I would still pull you off.

²⁵ Jehoiachin, I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of. Those people want to kill you.

²⁶ I will throw you and your mother into another country where neither of you was born. You and your mother will die in that country.

²⁷ Jehoiachin, you will want to come back to your land—but you will never be allowed to come back.”

²⁸ Coniah (Jehoiachin) is like a broken pot\par that some person threw away.\par He is like a pot that no person wants.\par Why will Jehoiachin and his children\par be thrown out?\par Why will they be thrown away\par into a foreign land?\par

²⁹ Land, land, land of Judah!\par Listen to the message of the Lord!\par

³⁰ The Lord says,\par “Write this down about Jehoiachin:\par ‘He is a man that has no children anymore!\par Jehoiachin will not be successful\par in his lifetime.\par And none of his children\par will sit on the throne of David.\par None of his children\par will rule in Judah.’”\par