Jeremiah 22:3-13

3 The Lord saith these things, Do ye doom, and rightfulness, and deliver ye him that is oppressed by violence from the hand of the false challenger; and do not ye make sorry, neither oppress ye wickedly a comeling, and a fatherless child, and a widow, and shed ye not out innocent blood in this place. (The Lord saith these things, Do ye justice, and uprightness, and rescue ye him who is oppressed by violence from the hand of the oppressor; and do not ye make sorry, nor wickedly oppress ye, a newcomer, or a stranger, or a fatherless child, or a widow, and pour ye not out innocent blood in this place.)

4 For if ye doing do this word, (then) kings of the kin of David sitting on his throne shall enter [in] by the gates of this house, and shall ascend on chariots and horses, they, and the servants, and the people of them. (For if ye do this thing, then kings of the kin of David sitting on his throne shall enter in by the gates of this house, or of this palace, and shall come in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people.)

5 That if ye hear not these words, I swore in myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall be into wilderness. (But if ye do not listen to these words, I swore to myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall be turned into a wilderness, that is, into an empty ruin.)

6 For the Lord saith these things on the house of the king of Judah; Gilead, thou art to me the head of the Lebanon; credence be not given to me, if I set not thee (into) a wilderness, (and) cities (which be) unhabitable. (For the Lord saith these things about the house of the king of Judah; thou art to me like Gilead, and like the heights of Lebanon; but credence be not given to me/but no one believe me, if I do not make thee into a wilderness, and a land of uninhabited cities.)

7 And I shall hallow on thee a man slaying, and his arms (And I shall ordain men against thee to kill thee with their weapons); and they shall cut down thy chosen cedars, and shall cast (them) down into (the) fire.

8 And many folks shall pass by this city, and each man shall say to his neighbour, Why did the Lord thus to this great city? (And people from many nations shall pass by this city, and each person shall say to his neighbour, Why did the Lord do thus to this great city?)

9 And they shall answer, For they forsook the covenant of their Lord God, and worshipped alien gods, and served them. (And they shall answer, For they deserted the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange, or foreign, gods, and served them.)

10 Do not ye beweep him that is dead, neither wail ye on him by weeping; bewail ye him that goeth out, for he shall no more turn again, neither he shall see the land of his birth. (Do not ye weep for him who is dead, nor wail ye for him with weeping; but wail ye for him who goeth out, for he shall no more return, nor shall he see again the land of his birth.)

11 For the Lord saith these things to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that reigned for Josiah, his father, He that went out of this place, shall no more turn again hither; (For the Lord saith these things to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned for his father Josiah, He who went out of this place, shall no more return here;)

12 but in the place to which I have translated him, there he shall die, and he shall no more see this land. (but in the place to which I have carried him away captive, there he shall die, and he shall never see this land again.)

13 Woe to him that buildeth his house in unrightfulness, and his solars not in doom; he shall oppress his friend in vain, and he shall not yield his hire to him. (Woe to him who buildeth his house in unrighteousness, and his rooms with injustice; he shall make his neighbours work for nothing, and he shall not pay them their wages.)

Jeremiah 22:3-13 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.