1. Thus hath the Lord said: Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,
2. and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that doth sit upon the throne of David, thou, and thy slaves and thy people that enter in by these gates:
3. Thus hath the Lord said: Execute judgment and righteousness and deliver the oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor and do not deceive, neither steal from the stranger nor from the fatherless nor from the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4. For if ye effectively obey this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house the kings seated by David upon his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, he and his slaves and his people.
5. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, said the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
6. For thus hath the Lord said regarding the house of the king of Judah: Thou art Gilead unto me and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness and cities which are not inhabited.
7. And I will appoint destroyers against thee, each one with his weapons, and they shall cut down thy choice cedars and cast them into the fire.