Jeremiah 22

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Jeremiah 22:1-30 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

When we walk with God, God will guide us in what He wants to do with us.  Jeremiah was a man God used to speak to His people.

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

Jeremiah was instructed to say specific words by God to a particular group of people.

3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment 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. 

God instructs His people then and His people today to take what was stolen from those who took it: do what is right, do not use abuse against the strangers, the fatherless, nor the widow neither shed innocent blood in My place or before My Face.

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. 

If you obey My Words, I will use your family, the family of David.

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

If you do not do what I just told you, I swear I will destroy this place.

6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou [art] Gilead unto me, [and] the head of Lebanon: [yet] surely I will make thee a wilderness, [and] cities [which] are not inhabited. 

You are precious to me as Gilead and you are like the beautiful trees of Lebanon: but if you disobey me you will be like a wilderness and your cities will be without life.

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.

I will send men who will not have time to look at what is of beauty, they will be so busy tearing down every expensive tree you are known for and cast them into the fire.

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

And many people from everywhere will look at what I allowed to happen in my anger at how you treated My people.  I will let it be known that I who is the Lord did this to this place.

9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 

The nations that will see what happened will also know because you sinned against Me is the reason God destroyed this land.

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. 

Don't weep for the dead neither regret that he is no longer alive:  weep hard for the man that went away with a strong enemy: for that man will never see this land again.  Josiah is the man God is saying do not weep for him for he was a righteous man, but his sons he left on earth are the ones you will cry hard over.  Imagine a leader being held captive by an enemy over another country.

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

Josiah a righteous king, had a son whose name was Shallum is a low down king, he will never be on the throne of David again.  He will be carried away and he will never return to the land I gave the children of Abraham.

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

He will be led away and die in the land where is will not be recognized as a king and die there.

13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; 

I will destroy a man who makes a man build him a house and does not pay him.  This same law is in effect today.  If we take a loan and do not pay it back, we are listed on death row.

14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and [it is] cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 

You design a house and give the blueprint to a man who you will force him to build for nothing.

15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest [thyself] in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, [and] then [it was] well with him? 

Do you think you are king because of your expensive things?  Your father ate and drank and did what was right and did it not go well with your father?

16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD. 

The way I am known to any man is how you handle the poor.  If you do not do justice for those who are in need, I do not know you.

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

But you want things, and you kill innocent people, and you will oppress people and use violence to get what you want.

18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! 

As for the son of Josiah Jehoiakim he is a mess, do not cry over his life when destruction hits his house.

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

You lived like an ass, you will be buried as an ass.

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

Go to the wealthy places and cry.  There you will find all that loved you destroyed.

 21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; [but] thou saidst, I will not hear. This [hath been] thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 

I spoke to you while things were good, but you didn't listen to me.  You heard my Word and ignore what I said.

22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. 

All the pastors and those you love will be gone with the wind.

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

Those of you who lived in your fine houses will be nice when pain hits you like a woman in delivery of her child.

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

Even Coniah the grandson of Josiah, even if you had the power to get things done by the stamp of your ring, I will pluck you off of your throne for your behavior against my Word.

25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand [of them] whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 

 I am going to take Coniah and give him into the hand of the meanest man known.

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

You and your mother will be removed from my face and the land you know will not be your burial ground.  You will die in the land of your enemies.

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

You will cry to be in my care, but you will never come back to this land.

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

Coniah is a low-down man.  He nor his seed will be left in this land, you will not reign in the land of those who will kill you.

29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. 

Listen to me people!

30 Thus saith the LORD, 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.

Get rid of everything belonging to Coniah and any seed that comes from him.  This man will not have another man to sit on the throne of David.