1. This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.
2. You are to say: Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David — you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates.
3. This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
4. For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace riding on chariots and horses — they, their officers, and their people.
5. But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “that this house will become a ruin.”
6. For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:You are like Gilead to Me,or the summit of Lebanon,but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,uninhabited cities.
7. I will appoint destroyers against you,each with his weapons.They will cut down the choicest of your cedarsand throw them into the fire.
8. “Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city? ’
9. They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God and worshiped and served other gods.’ ”
10. Do not weep for the dead;do not mourn for him.Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,for he will never return againand see his native land.
11. For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place — he will never return here again,
12. but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”