1  Thus said YHWH: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

1  Thus saith the Lord; Go thou, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and thou shalt speak there this word,

1  Thus says the Lord: “Descend to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word.

2  and say: Hear the word of YHWH, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates.

2  Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates;

3  Thus saith YHWH: Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no wrong, do no violence, to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

3  thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgement and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him: and oppress not the stranger, and orphan, and widow, and sin not, and shed no innocent blood in this place.

3  Thus says the Lord: Exercise judgment and justice, and free anyone who is oppressed by violence from the hand of a false accuser. And do not be willing to sadden the new arrival, or the orphan, or the widow, nor should you burden them unfairly. And you shall not shed innocent blood in this place.

4  For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

4  For if you will indeed accomplish this word, then there will enter through the gates of this house kings from the stock of David, sitting on his throne, and riding on chariots and on horses: they, and their servants, and their people.

5  But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by Myself, saith YHWH, that this house shall become a desolation.

6  For thus saith YHWH concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou art Gilead unto Me, the head of Lebanon; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

6  For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: You are like Gilead, like the head of Lebanon; but I will surely make you a desert, like an uninhabited city.

7  And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons; and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

7  and I will bring upon thee a destroying man, and his axe: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

7  And I will sanctify over you the destroying man and his weapons. And they will cut down your select cedars and throw them violently into the fire.

8  And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour: 'Wherefore hath YHWH done thus unto this great city?'

9  Then they shall answer: 'Because they forsook the covenant of YHWH their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.'

9  And they will answer: ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God, and they adored strange gods and served them.’

10  Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

10  Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.

10  You should not choose to weep for the dead, nor should you mourn over them with tears. Lament for him who is departing, for he will return no more, nor will he see his native land again.

11  For thus saith YHWH touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return thither any more;

11  For thus saith the Lord concerning Sellem the son of Josias, who reigns in the place of Josias his father, who has gone forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more

11  For thus says the Lord to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned in place of his father, who has departed from this place: He will not return here again.

12  but in the place whither they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more.

12  Instead, he will die in the place to which I have transferred him, and he will not see this land anymore.

13  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not his hire;

13  He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgement, who works by means of his neighbour for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward.

13  Woe to one who builds his house with injustice and his upper rooms without judgment, who oppresses his friend without cause and does not pay him his wages.

14  That saith: 'I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers', and cutteth him out windows, and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

14  And he says: ‘I will build a broad house for myself, with spacious upper rooms.’ He makes windows for himself, and he builds the roof out of cedar, and he paints it with red ocher.

15  Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

15  Will you reign because you compare yourself to the cedar? Did your father not eat and drink, and act with judgment and justice, so that it would be well with him?

15  Shall you reign and rejoice by living in palaces built with cedar? Indeed, your father did eat and drink, but he also did justice and righteousness, therefore I did good to him.

16  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know Me? saith YHWH.

16  They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this thy not knowing me? saith the Lord.

16  He did justice to the cause of the poor and needy; and he did well; he who does these things, knows me, says the LORD.

17  But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

17  Behold, thine eyes are not good, nor thine heart, but they go after thy covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.

17  Yet truly, your eyes and your heart are toward avarice and the shedding of innocent blood, and toward false accusations and the pursuit of evil deeds.

18  Therefore thus saith YHWH concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not lament for him: 'Ah my brother!' or: 'Ah sister!' They shall not lament for him: 'Ah lord!' or: 'Ah his glory!'

18  Because of this, thus says the Lord toward Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him by saying, ‘Alas,’ to a brother, or, ‘Alas,’ to a sister. They will not make a noise for him and say, ‘Alas,’ to a master, or, ‘Alas,’ to a nobleman.

19  He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20  Go up to Lebanon, and cry, and lift up thy voice in Bashan; and cry from Abarim, for all thy lovers are destroyed.

20  Ascend to Lebanon and cry out! And utter your voice in Bashan, and cry out to those passing by. For all your lovers have been crushed.

21  I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity, but thou saidst: 'I will not hear.' This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou hearkenedst not to My voice.

21  I spoke to thee on occasion of thy trespass, but thou saidst, I will not hearken. This has been thy way from thy youth, thou hast not hearkened to my voice.

21  I spoke to you in your abundance, and you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my voice.

22  The wind shall feed upon all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

22  The wind will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. And then you will be confounded, and you will be ashamed of all your wickedness.

22  All of your shepherds shall be smitten by the east wind, and your lovers shall go into captivity; surely then you shall be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.

23  O inhabitant of Lebanon, that art nestled in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

23  O thou that dwellest in Libanus, making thy nest in the cedars, thou shalt groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon thee.

23  You who sit in Lebanon, and who nest in the cedars, in what way did you mourn when suffering came to you, like the suffering of a woman giving birth?

24  As I live, saith YHWH, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon My right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

24  As I live, says the Lord, if Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a ring on my right hand, I would remove him from there.

25  and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

25  and I will deliver thee into the hands of them that seek thy life, before whom thou art afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.

25  And I will deliver you into the hand of the men who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose presence you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26  And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bore thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

26  And I will send you, and your mother who conceived you, into a foreign land, in which you were not born, and there you shall die.

27  But to the land whereunto they long to return, thither shall they not return.

27  But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls.

27  And to the land about which they lift up their mind, thinking to return there, they shall not return.

28  Is this man Coniah a despised, broken image? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they know not?

28  Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not.

28  this Jecaniah is a little man and a fool, he is like a useless vessel; this is why he is carried away, he and his children, and cast into a land which he knows not.

29  O land, land, land, hear the word of YHWH.

29  Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.

29  O earth, O earth, O earth! Listen to the word of the Lord!

30  Thus saith YHWH: Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

30  Write ye this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, or as a prince yet in Juda.

30  Thus says the Lord: Write: this man is barren; he is a man who will not prosper in his days. For there will not be a man from among his offspring who will sit upon the throne of David, or have authority in Judah, anymore.”