1-2. The Lord told me to go to the palace of the king of Judah, the descendant of David, and there tell the king, his officials, and the people of Jerusalem to listen to what the Lord had said:
3. “I, the Lord, command you to do what is just and right. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. Do not ill-treat or oppress foreigners, orphans, or widows; and do not kill innocent people in this holy place.
4. If you really do as I have commanded, then David's descendants will continue to be kings. And they, together with their officials and their people, will continue to pass through the gates of this palace in chariots and on horses.
5. But if you do not obey my commands, then I swear to you that this palace will fall into ruins. I, the Lord, have spoken.
6. “To me, Judah's royal palace is as beautiful as the land of Gilead and as the Lebanon Mountains; but I will make it a desolate place where no one lives.
7. I am sending men to destroy it. They will all bring their axes, cut down its beautiful cedar pillars, and throw them into the fire.
8. “Afterwards many foreigners will pass by and ask one another why I, the Lord, have done such a thing to this great city.
9. Then they will answer that it is because you have abandoned your covenant with me, your God, and have worshipped and served other gods.”
10. People of Judah, do not weep for King Josiah;do not mourn his death.But weep bitterly for Joahaz, his son;they are taking him away, never to return,never again to see the land where he was born.
11. The Lord says concerning Josiah's son Joahaz, who succeeded his father as king of Judah, “He has gone away from here, never to return.
12. He will die in the country where they have taken him, and he will never again see this land.”
13. Doomed is the man who builds his house by injusticeand enlarges it by dishonesty;who makes his countrymen work for nothingand does not pay their wages.
14. Doomed is the one who says,“I will build myself a mansionwith spacious rooms upstairs.”So he puts windows in his house,panels it with cedar,and paints it red.
15. Does it make you a better kingif you build houses of cedar,finer than those of others?Your father enjoyed a full life.He was always just and fair,and he prospered in everything he did.
16. He gave the poor a fair trial,and all went well with him.That is what it means to know the Lord.
17. But you can only see your selfish interests;you kill the innocentand violently oppress your people.The Lord has spoken.
18. So then, the Lord says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah,“No one will mourn his death or say,‘How terrible, my friend, how terrible!’No one will weep for him or cry,‘My lord! My king!’