A message about punishing the evil kings of Judah

22 This is another message that Yahweh gave to me: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and say this to him: 2 ‘You are the king of Judah. You are the ruler [MTY], like King David was. You and your officials and your people must listen 3 to what Yahweh says: “Act fairly and justly. Do what is right. Help those who have been robbed. Rescue people from those who oppress them. Stop doing evil things. Do not mistreat those who have come here from other countries, and do not mistreat orphans and widows. Stop murdering here in Jerusalem [MTY] those who ◄are innocent/have not done things that are wrong►. 4 If you obey those commands carefully, there will always be some descendant of King David who will be ruling here [MTY] in Jerusalem. The king and his officials and other people will ride through the gates of the city in chariots and on horses. 5 But if you refuse to pay attention to those commands, I, Yahweh, solemnly declare, with myself [MTY] as a witness, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.” ’ ”

6 And this is what Yahweh says about the king’s palace:

“I like this palace, like I like the forests in the Gilead region

and the mountains in Lebanon.

But I will cause this palace to become a desert,

a place that no one lives in.

7 I will summon enemy troops who will destroy this palace;

each of their soldiers will use his own tools to wreck the building.

They will cut into pieces the beautiful big cedar beams

and throw them into a fire.”

8 People from many nations will walk past the ruins of this city and say to each other, “Why did Yahweh destroy this city that was very great?” 9 And other people will reply, “He did it because his people stopped obeying the agreement that they had made with Yahweh their God. Instead, they worshiped [DOU] other gods.”

10 Yahweh also says, “Do not mourn for King Josiah;

do not cry because he has died.

Instead, mourn for King Jehoahaz, his son,

because he will be captured and taken to another country,

and he will never return to see his own country, Judah, again.”

11 Jehoahaz became king after his father, King Josiah, died, but Jehoahaz indeed was captured and taken to Babylonia. And this is what Yahweh says about him: “He also will never return to Judah. 12 He will die in that far-away country and will never see his own country again.”