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6For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah:
“Though you are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
I will surely make you like a desert,
like towns not inhabited.

7I will send destroyers against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.

8“People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’9And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”

10Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return
nor see his native land again.

11For this is what the LORD says about ShallumAlso called Jehoahaz son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return.12He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”

13“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.

14He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.’
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red.

15“Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.

16He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?”
declares the LORD.

17“But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and extortion.”

18Therefore this is what the LORD says about 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!’

21I warned you when you felt secure,
but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth;
you have not obeyed me.

22The wind will drive all your shepherds away,
and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
because of all your wickedness.

23You who live in ‘Lebanon,That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)’
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain like that of a woman in labor!

24“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, JehoiachinHebrew Coniah, a variant of Jehoiachin; also in verse 28 son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.25I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians.Or Chaldeans26I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die.27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”

28Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know?

29O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD!

30This is what the LORD says:
“Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah.”