15. “Does having a lot of cedar in your housemake you a great king?Your father was satisfied to have food and drink.He did what was right and fair.So everything went well for him.
16. He helped those who were poor and needy.So everything went well for him.That’s what it means to know God,” says the Lord.
17. “But your eyes only look for what you can get dishonestly.You are always thinking about getting more for yourself.You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it.You are making it hard for people.You even steal things from them.”
18. So this is what the Lord says to Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:“The people of Judah will not cry loudly when Jehoiakim dies.They will not say, ‘Oh, my brother, I am so sad!Oh, my sister, I am so sad!’The people of Judah will not cry for him, saying:‘Oh, master, oh, my king.’
19. The people of Jerusalem will bury him like a donkey.They will just drag his body away.Then they will throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20. “Judah, go up to Lebanon and cry out.Let your voice be heard in Bashan.Cry out from Abarim.All your friends are destroyed!
21. Judah, when you were successful, I warned you.But you refused to listen.You have acted like this since you were young.You have not obeyed me.
22. My punishment will come like a storm.And it will blow all your shepherds away.Your friends will be taken away as captives.Then you will really be ashamed.You will be disgraced because of all the wicked things you did.
23. King, you live in your palace.You are cozy in your rooms of cedar.But you will groan when your punishment comes.You will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby!
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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And I will hand you over to the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of because they want to kill you.
26. I will throw you and your mother into another country. Neither of you was born there. But both of you will die there.
27. You will want to come back. But you will never be able to return.”