22
1 Thus saith Hashem: Go down to the Bais Melech Yehudah, and speak there this Davar, 2 And say, Hear the Devar Hashem, O Melech Yehudah, that sittest upon the kisse of Dovid, thou, and thy avadim, and thy people that enter in by these she'arim (gates); 3 Thus saith Hashem; Execute ye mishpat (justice) and tzedakah (righteousness), and save the plundered out of the yad of the oshek (oppressor); and do no wrong, do no violence to the ger (alien), the yatom (orphan), nor the almanah (widow), neither shed dahm naki (innocent blood) in this makom (place). 4 For if ye carry out this davar indeed, then, shall there enter in by the she'arim (gates) of this Bais, melachim sitting upon the kisse Dovid, riding in chariots and on susim, he, and his avadim, and his people. 5 But if ye will not hear these devarim, I swear a shevuah by Myself, saith Hashem, that this Bais shall become a desolation. 6 For thus saith Hashem unto the Bais Melech Yehudah:
Thou art [in grandeur] Gil'ad unto Me,
and the summit of the Levanon;
yet surely I will make thee a midbar,
and towns which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare mashchitim (destroyers) against thee,
every ish with his weapons;
and they shall cut down thy choice arazim (cedars),
and cast them into the eish.
8 And Goyim rabbim shall pass by this city, and they shall say every ish to his re'a (neighbor), Why hath Hashem done thus unto this ir hagedolah (great city)? 9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the Brit Hashem Eloheihem, and worshiped elohim acherim, and served them.
10 Weep ye not for the one dead,
neither mourn him;
but weep bitterly for him that goeth away [into the Golus];
for he shall return no more,
nor see his eretz moledet (native land).
11 For thus saith Hashem touching Shallum Ben Yoshiyah Melech Yehudah, which reigned in place of Yoshiyah aviv, which went forth out of this makom; he shall not return there any more; 12 But he shall die in the makom where they have led him captive [into the Golus], and he shall see HaAretz Hazot no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his bais but not by tzedek (righteousness),
and his aliyyot (upper chambers) but not by mishpat;
that useth his neighborʼs service without wages,
and giveth him no pay for his work;
14 That saith: I will build me a large bais (mansion)
and spacious aliyyot (upper rooms),
and cutteth him out chalonot (windows);
and panel it with erez (cedar),
and paint with bright red.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou enclose thyself in erez (cedar)?
Did not Avicha eat and drink,
and do mishpat and tzedakah,
and then it was tov (well) with him?
16 He defended the cause of the oni (poor) and evyon (needy);
then it was tov (well) with him;
was not this to have da'as of Me?
saith Hashem.
17 But thine eynayim (eyes) and thine lev
are but for thy betza (covetousness, greed)
and for to shed dahm hanaki (innocent blood),
and for oshek (oppression), and for merutzah (extortion, persecution), to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith Hashem concerning Y'hoyakim Ben Yoshiyah Melech Yehudah:
They shall not mourn for him, saying:
Ah achi! Or, Ah achot (sister)!
They shall not lament for him, saying:
Ah adon! Or: Ah his hod (glory)!
19 He shall be buried with the kevurat chamor (burial of a donkey),
dragged and cast forth outside the Sha'arei Yerushalayim.
20 Go up to the Levanon, and cry out;
and lift up thy voice in Bashan,
and cry out from Avarim;
for all thy lovers are crushed.
21 I spoke unto thee in thy security;
but thou saidst: I will not hear.
This hath been thy derech from thy youth,
that thou obeyedst not My kol (voice).
22 The ruach shall eat up all thy ro'im (rulers),
and thy lovers shall go into captivity [in the Golus];
surely then shalt thou be ashamed and humiliated
because of all thy wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of the Levanon,
that makest thy ken (nest) in the arazim (cedars),
how shalt thou groan when chavalim (birth pangs) come upon thee,
the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 As I live, saith Hashem, though Konyahu* Ben Y'hoyakim Melech Yehudah were the chotam (signet ring) upon Yad Yemini (My right Hand), yet would I pluck thee from there.† 25 And I will give thee into the yad of them that seek thy nefesh, and into the yad of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the yad of Nevukhadretzar Melech Babylon, and into the yad of the Kasdim. 26 And I will cast thee out, and immecha that bore thee, into ha'aretz acheret (another country), where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. 27 But to HaAretz whereunto they desire to return, to these shall they not return.
28 Is this man Konyahu
a despised broken etzev (image, statue)?
Is he a vessel wherein is no chefetz?
Why are they cast out, he and his zera,
and are cast into ha'aretz which they know not?
29 O eretz, eretz, eretz,
hear the Devar Hashem.
30 Thus saith Hashem:
Write ye this ish ariri (childless),‡
a gever (man) who shall not prosper in his days;
for none of his zera shall prosper,
sitting upon the kisse Dovid,
or moshel od (rule anymore) in Yehudah.
* 22:24 Yehoiakhin, Yechonyahu † 22:24 2Kgs 23:33-34 ‡ 22:30 stripped of the honor that progeny bestows