A Warning to Judah’s Kings 1 Brenton Thus saith the Lord; Go thou, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and thou shalt speak there this word, BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,
2 Brenton and thou shalt say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest on the throne of David, thou, and thy house, and thy people, and they that go in at these gates: BSB BSB: saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you and your officials and your people who enter these gates.
3 Brenton thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment 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. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
4 Brenton For if ye will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they, and their servants, and their people. BSB BSB: For if you will indeed carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace riding on chariots and horses—they and their officials and their people.
5 Brenton But if ye will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that this house shall be brought to desolation. BSB BSB: But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that this house will become a pile of rubble.’”
A Warning about the Palace 6 Brenton For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; Thou art Galaad to me, and the head of Libanus: yet surely I will make thee a desert, even cities that shall not be inhabited: BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a desert, like cities that are uninhabited.
7 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: I will appoint destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut down the choicest of your cedars and throw them into the fire.
8 Brenton And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbour, Why has the Lord done thus to this great city? BSB BSB: And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
9 Brenton And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them. BSB BSB: Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”
A Warning about Shallum 10 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: Do not weep for him who is dead; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for him who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.
11 Brenton 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: BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,
12 Brenton but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more. BSB BSB: but he will die in the place to which he was exiled; he will never see this land again.”
A Warning about Jehoiakim 13 Brenton He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment, who works by means of his neighbour for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward. BSB BSB: “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
14 Brenton Thou hast built for thyself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion. BSB BSB: who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.
15 Brenton Shalt thou reign, because thou art provoked with thy father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for thee to execute judgment and justice. BSB BSB: Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.
16 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.
17 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: “But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
18 Brenton Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man; they shall not bewail him, saying , Ah brother! neither shall they at all weep for him, saying , Alas Lord. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
19 Brenton He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem. BSB BSB: He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Brenton Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter thy voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all thy lovers are destroyed. BSB BSB: Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed.
21 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: I warned you when you were secure. You said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from youth, that you have not obeyed My voice.
22 Brenton The wind shall tend all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; for then shalt thou be ashamed and disgraced because of all thy lovers. BSB BSB: The wind will drive away all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.
23 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
A Warning to Coniah 24 Brenton As I live, saith the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck thee;BSB BSB: “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
25 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Chaldeans.
26 Brenton And I will cast forth thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a land where thou wast not born; and there ye shall die. BSB BSB: I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another land, where neither of you were born—and there you both will die.
27 Brenton But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls. BSB BSB: You will never return to the land for which you long.”
28 Brenton Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not. BSB BSB: Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot, a jar that no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they do not know?
29 Brenton Land, land, hear the word of the Lord. BSB BSB: O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
30 Brenton 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. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “Enroll this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime. None of his descendants will prosper to sit on the throne of David or to rule again in Judah.”
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