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 is what it means to know God,”says the Lord.
17. “But you only look for and think aboutwhat you can get dishonestly.You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it.You feel free to hurt people and to steal 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 when Jehoiakim dies,saying: ‘Oh, my brother,’ or ‘Oh, my sister.’They will not cry for him, saying:‘Oh, master,’ or ‘Oh, my king.’
19. They will bury him like a donkey,dragging his body awayand throwing 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,because all your friends are destroyed!
21. Judah, when you were successful, I warned you,but you said, ‘I won’t listen.’You have acted like this since you were young;you have not obeyed me.
22. Like a storm, my punishment will blow all your shepherds awayand send your friends into captivity.Then you will really be ashamed and disgracedbecause of all the wicked things you did.
23. King, you live in your palace,cozy in your rooms of cedar.But when your punishment comes, how you will groanlike a woman giving birth to a baby!
24. “As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “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. I will hand you over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians—those people you fear 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.