1 The Lord saith these things, Go thou down into the house of the king of Judah, and thou shalt speak there this word, (The Lord saith these things, Go thou down to the house of the king of Judah, and thou shalt speak this word there,)

2 and shalt say, Hear thou the word of the Lord, thou king of Judah, that sittest on the seat of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that enter [in] by these gates. (and shalt say, Hear thou the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sittest on David’s throne, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who enter in by these gates.)

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, or 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, (or 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.)

14 Which saith, I shall build to me a large house, and wide solars; which openeth windows to himself, and maketh couples of cedar, and painteth with red colour. (Who saith, I shall build for myself a large house with wide rooms; and I shall cut out windows for it, and make couplings out of cedar, and paint it with red colour.)

15 Whether thou shalt reign, for thou comparisonest thee to a cedar? whether thy father ate not, and drank, and did doom and rightfulness then, when it was well to him? (Shalt thou reign, because thy cedar is finer in comparison to others? did not thy father eat, and drink, and did justly and with righteousness, and was it not well with him?)

16 He deemed the cause of a poor man, and needy, into his good; whether not therefore for he knew me? saith the Lord. (He judged the cases of the poor and the needy, for their good; did this not show that he knew me? saith the Lord.)

17 Forsooth thine eyes and heart be to avarice, and to shed innocent blood, and to false challenge, and to the performing of evil work. (But thine eyes and thy heart be turned to greed, and to pour out innocent blood, and to oppression, and to the performing of evil work.)

18 Therefore the Lord saith these things to Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, They shall not bewail him, (and say), Woe brother! and woe sister! they shall not sound together to him (and say), Woe lord! and woe noble man! (And so the Lord saith these things about Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, They shall not bewail him, and say, Woe brother! and woe sister! they shall not sound together for him, and say, Woe lord! and woe noble man!)

19 He shall be buried with the burying of an ass, he shall be rotten, and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem. (He shall be buried like the burying of a donkey, yea, he shall be rotten, and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.)

20 Ascend thou on the Lebanon, and cry thou, and give thy voice in Bashan, and cry to them that pass forth, for all thy lovers be all-broken. (Go thou up to Lebanon, and cry thou, and give thy voice in Bashan, and cry to those who pass forth, for all thy allies be all-broken.)

21 I spake to thee in thy plenty, and thou saidest, I shall not hear (or I will not listen to thee); this is thy way from thy youth, for thou heardest not my voice.

22 Wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; (The wind shall carry away all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; and then thou shalt be shamed, and ashamed for all thy malice,)

23 and then thou that sittest in the Lebanon, and makest (thy) nest in cedars, shalt be shamed, and ashamed of all thy malice. How wailedest thou, when sorrows were come to thee, as the sorrow of a woman travailing of child? (thou who sittest in Lebanon, and makest thy nest in cedars. How thou shalt wail, when sorrows shall come to thee, like the sorrow of a woman in labour!)

24 I live, saith the Lord, for thou Jeconiah* Also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin., the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were (as) a ring in my right hand, from thence I shall draw away him. (As I live, saith the Lord, for thou Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were the ring on my right hand, but now I shall draw thee away from there.)

25 And I shall give thee in the hand of them that seek thy life, and in the hand of them whose face thou dreadest, and in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and in the hand of Chaldees. (And I shall give thee into the hands of those who seek thy life, and into the hands of those whose faces thou fearest, and into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hands of the Chaldeans.)

26 And I shall send thee, and thy mother that engendered thee, into an alien land, in which ye were not born, and there ye shall die; (And I shall send thee, and thy mother who begat thee, into a foreign, or a strange, land, where ye were not born, and ye shall die there;)

27 and they shall not turn again into the land, to which they raise their soul(s), that they turn again thither. (and they shall never return to the land, to which they raise up their souls, that they could return there.)

28 Whether this man Jeconiah is(but) an earthen vessel, and all-broken? whether a vessel without all-liking? (or but a vessel all despised?) Why (else) be he and his seed cast away, and cast forth into a land which they knew not?

29 Earth, earth, earth, hear thou the word of the Lord. (O land, land, land, hear thou the words of the Lord.)

30 The Lord saith these things, Write thou this man barren, a man that shall not have prosperity in his days; for of his seed shall be no man, that shall sit on the seat of David, and have power further in Judah. (The Lord saith these things, Write thou that this man shall be barren, and he shall not prosper in all his days; for none of his descendants shall sit on David’s throne, or have any power again in Judah.)