Jeremiah 22:1-9 - Judgment Against Sinful Kings

1 So says Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this Word there. 2 And say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates. 3 So says Jehovah, Do judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the oppressors's hand. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you do this thing indeed, then there shall enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if you will not hear these Words, I swear by Myself, says Jehovah, that this house shall become a ruin.

6 For so says Jehovah to the king of Judah's house, You are Gilead to Me, and the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities with no people. 7 And I will prepare destroyers against you, each one with his weapons. And they shall cut down your choice cedars, and throw them into the fire.

8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say each one to his neighbor, Why has Jehovah done this to this great city? 9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.