16. Josiah helped poor and needy people, so everything went well for him. Jehoiakim, what does it mean “to know God”? It means living right and being fair. That is what it means to know me. This message is from the Lord.
17. “Jehoiakim, your eyes look only for what benefits yourself. You are always thinking about getting more for yourself. You are willing to kill innocent people. You are willing to steal things from other people.”
18. So this is what the Lord says to King Jehoiakim son of Josiah: “The people of Judah will not cry for Jehoiakim. They will not say to each other, ‘Brother, I am so sad! Sister, I am so sad!’ They will not cry for Jehoiakim. They will not say about him, ‘Master, I am so sad! King, I am so sad!’
19. The people of Jerusalem will bury Jehoiakim like a donkey. They will drag his body away and throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20. “Judah, go up to the mountains of Lebanon and cry out. Let your voice be heard in the mountains of Bashan. Cry out in the mountains of Abarim, because all your ‘lovers’ will be destroyed.
21. “Judah, you felt safe, but I warned you. I warned you, but you refused to listen. You have lived like this from the time you were young. And from the time you were young, you have not obeyed me, Judah.
22. Judah, the punishment I give will come like a storm, and it will blow all your shepherds away. You thought some of the other nations would help you. But these nations will also be defeated. Then you will really be disappointed. You will be ashamed of all the evil things you did.
23. “King, you seem so safe in your palace of cedar. It’s as if you live in Lebanon! But when your punishment comes, you will groan. You will be in pain like a woman giving birth!”
24. “As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “I will do this to you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: Even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.
25. Jehoiachin, I will give you to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of. They 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. Jehoiachin is like a broken pot that someone threw away. He is like a pot that no one wants. Why will Jehoiachin and his children be thrown out and sent away into a foreign land?
29. Land, land, land of Judah! Listen to this message from the Lord!