Jeremiah 22:1-10

1 This is what the Lord says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and prophesy this message there:

2 'Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, who rules from David's throne. You and your officers, and your people who come through these gates, listen!

3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Save the one who has been robbed from the power of his attacker. Don't mistreat or hurt the foreigners, orphans, or widows. Don't kill innocent people here.

4 If you carefully obey these commands, kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace with their officers and people, riding in chariots and on horses.

5 But if you don't obey these commands, says the Lord, I swear by my own name that this king's palace will become a ruin.'"

6 This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives: "You are tall like the forests of Gilead, like the mountaintops of Lebanon. But I will truly make you into a desert, into towns where no one lives.

7 I will send men to destroy the palace, each with his weapons. They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams and throw them into the fire.

8 "People from many nations will pass by this city and ask each other, 'Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem, this great city?'

9 And the answer will be: 'Because the people of Judah quit following the agreement with the Lord their God. They worshiped and served other gods.'"

10 Don't cry for the dead king or be sad about him. But cry painfully for the king who is being taken away, because he will never return or see his homeland again.

Jeremiah 22:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 22

This chapter is a prophecy of what should befall the sons of Josiah, Jehoahaz or Shallum; Jehoiakim and Jeconiah. It begins with an exhortation to the then reigning prince, Jehoiakim, his family and court, to do justice, relieve the oppressed, and refrain from doing injury to any; with a promise of prosperity upon so doing, Jer 22:1-4; but, on the contrary behaviour, the king's family, however precious they had been in the sight of the Lord, should be destroyed, by persons described as fit for such work, which would occasion others to inquire the cause of such destruction; when it would be told them, it was for their apostasy from the Lord, their breaking covenant with him, and their idolatry, Jer 22:5-9; then of Shallum, who was then carried captive, it is predicted that he should never return more, which was matter of greater lamentation than the death of his father Josiah, Jer 22:10-12; next Jehoiakim, the present king on the throne, is reproved, and a woe denounced upon him for his injustice, luxury, covetousness, rapine, and murders, Jer 22:13-17; and it is particularly threatened that he should die unlamented, and have no burial, Jer 22:18,19; and then the people of the land are called upon to mourning and lamentation, their kings one after another being carried captive, Jer 22:20-23; also Jeconiah the king's son, and who succeeded him, is threatened with rejection from the Lord, and a delivery of him up into the hand of the king of Babylon, with exile in a strange country, and death there, and that without children; so that Solomon's line should cease in him, Jer 22:24-30.