Lectionary Calendar
Friday, August 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Jeremiah 22:16

Josiah helped poor and needy people, so everything went well for him. Jehoiakim, what does it mean "to know God"? It means living right and being fair. That is what it means to know me. This message is from the Lord .

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blessing;   Jehoiakim;   Poor;   Rich, the;   Works;   Thompson Chain Reference - Needy, the;   Poor, the;   Poverty-Riches;   Social Duties;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Poor, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jehoiakim;   Nebuchadnezzar;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jehoiakim;   Jeremiah;   Josiah;   King;   Wealth;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Destroy, Destruction;   Habakkuk, Theology of;   Know, Knowledge;   Knowledge of God;   Testimony;   Wages;   Wealth;   Widow;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hophni and Phinehas;   Jehoiakim;   Jeremiah;   Poor;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Architecture in the Biblical Period;   Beth-Haccerem;   Ethics;   Justice;   Knowledge;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Jehoiakim;   Jeremiah;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Captivity;   Jehoiakim;   Justice;   Plead;   Poor;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Jehoiakim;   Josiah;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He took up the case of the poor and needy;then it went well.Is this not what it means to know me?
Hebrew Names Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this to know me? says the LORD.
King James Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord .
English Standard Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord .
New American Standard Bible
"He pled the cause of the afflicted and the poor, Then it was well. Is that not what it means to know Me?" Declares the LORD.
New Century Version
He helped those who were poor and needy, so everything went well for him. That is what it means to know God," says the Lord .
Amplified Bible
"He defended the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then all was well. Is that not what it means to know Me?" Says the LORD.
World English Bible
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this to know me? says Yahweh.
Geneva Bible (1587)
When he iudged the cause of the afflicted and the poore, he prospered: was not this because he knewe me, saith the Lorde?
Legacy Standard Bible
He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;Then it was well.Is not that what it means to know Me?"Declares Yahweh.
Berean Standard Bible
He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well. Is this not what it means to know Me?" declares the LORD.
Contemporary English Version
That's what it means to truly know me. So he lived a comfortable life and always had enough to eat and drink.
Complete Jewish Bible
He upheld the cause of the poor and the weak, so everything went well. Isn't that what knowing me is all about?" says Adonai .
Darby Translation
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
George Lamsa Translation
He did justice to the cause of the poor and needy; and he did well; he who does these things, knows me, says the LORD.
Good News Translation
He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the Lord .
Lexham English Bible
He judged the legal cause of the needy and the poor, and then it was well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares Yahweh.
Literal Translation
He judged the cause of the poor and needy, then it was well. Was this not to know Me, says Jehovah?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yee when he helped ye oppressed and poore to their right, then prospered he well. From whence came this, but only because he had me before his eyes? saieth the LORDE.
American Standard Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
Bible in Basic English
He was judge in the cause of the poor and those in need; then it was well. Was not this to have knowledge of me? says the Lord.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know Me? saith the LORD.
King James Version (1611)
He iudged the cause of the poore and needy, then it was well with him: was not this to know me, saith the Lord ?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yea, when he helped the oppressed and poore to their right, then prospered he well: From whence came this, but onlye because he knewe me, saith the Lorde?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this thy not knowing me? saith the Lord.
English Revised Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He demyde the cause of a pore man, and nedi, in to his good; whether not therfor for he knew me? seith the Lord.
Update Bible Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this the knowledge of me? says Yahweh.
Webster's Bible Translation
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him]: [was] not this to know me? saith the LORD.
New English Translation
He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.' The Lord says, ‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.'
New King James Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; Then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?" says the LORD.
New Living Translation
He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" says the Lord .
New Life Bible
He spoke strong words in the cause of the poor and those in need, and so all went well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" says the Lord.
New Revised Standard
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the Lord .
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Did he not plead the cause of the oppressed and the needy, And, then, it was well? Was not, that, to know, me? Demandeth Yahweh.
Douay-Rheims Bible
He judged the cause of the poor and needy for his own good: was it not therefore because he knew me, saith the Lord?
Revised Standard Version
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD.
Young's Literal Translation
He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then [it is] well -- is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" Declares the LORD.

Contextual Overview

10 Don't cry for the king who has died. Don't cry for him. But cry very hard for the king who must leave this place. Cry for him because he will never return or see his homeland again. 11 This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz son of Josiah, who became king of Judah after his father Josiah died: "Jehoahaz has gone away from Jerusalem. He will never return. 12 Jehoahaz will die in the place where the Egyptians have taken him, and he will not see this land again." 13 "It will be very bad for King Jehoiakim. He is doing wrong so that he can build his palace. He is cheating people so that he can build rooms upstairs. He is not paying his own people. He is making them work for nothing. 14 "Jehoiakim says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with huge rooms upstairs.' So he built it with large windows. He used cedar wood for paneling, and he painted it red. 15 "Jehoiakim, having a lot of cedar in your house does not make you a great king. Your father Josiah was satisfied to have food and drink. He did what was right and fair, so everything went well for him. 16 Josiah helped poor and needy people, so everything went well for him. Jehoiakim, what does it mean "to know God"? It means living right and being fair. That is what it means to know me. This message is from the Lord . 17 "Jehoiakim, your eyes look only for what benefits yourself. You are always thinking about getting more for yourself. You are willing to kill innocent people. You are willing to steal things from other people." 18 So this is what the Lord says to King Jehoiakim son of Josiah: "The people of Judah will not cry for Jehoiakim. They will not say to each other, ‘Brother, I am so sad! Sister, I am so sad!' They will not cry for Jehoiakim. They will not say about him, ‘Master, I am so sad! King, I am so sad!' 19 The people of Jerusalem will bury Jehoiakim like a donkey. They will drag his body away and throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

judged: Jeremiah 5:28, Job 29:12-17, Psalms 72:1-4, Psalms 72:12, Psalms 72:13, Psalms 82:3, Psalms 82:4, Psalms 109:31, Proverbs 24:11, Proverbs 24:12, Isaiah 1:17

was not: Jeremiah 9:3, Jeremiah 9:16, Jeremiah 9:24, Jeremiah 31:33, Jeremiah 31:34, 1 Samuel 2:2, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalms 9:10, John 8:19, John 8:54, John 8:55, John 16:3, John 17:3, John 17:6, Titus 1:16, 1 John 2:3, 1 John 2:4

Reciprocal: Leviticus 25:17 - fear Judges 2:10 - knew not Ruth 3:1 - may be 1 Samuel 2:12 - knew 2 Samuel 8:15 - David executed 2 Kings 8:3 - General 2 Kings 22:20 - gathered Psalms 36:10 - that Psalms 58:2 - in heart Psalms 106:3 - keep Psalms 140:12 - the Lord Proverbs 1:13 - General Proverbs 29:14 - king Proverbs 31:9 - General Jeremiah 7:6 - oppress Ezekiel 18:7 - hath spoiled Ezekiel 18:8 - hath executed Ezekiel 18:17 - hath taken Hosea 5:4 - and Hosea 6:6 - the Zephaniah 2:3 - all Matthew 23:23 - the weightier Luke 18:2 - which

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.
Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham noticed a ram whose horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the ram. He offered it, instead of his son, as a sacrifice to God.
Genesis 22:14
So Abraham gave that place a name, "The Lord Provides." Even today people say, "On the mountain of the Lord , he will give us what we need."
Psalms 105:9
He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham and the promise he made to Isaac.
Isaiah 45:23
"When I make a promise, that promise is true. It will happen. And I swear by my own power that everyone will bow before me and will take an oath to obey me.
Jeremiah 49:13
The Lord says, "By my own power, I make this promise: I promise that the city of Bozrah will be destroyed. It will become a ruined pile of rocks. People will use it as an example when they ask for bad things to happen to other cities. People will insult that city, and all the towns around Bozrah will become ruins forever."
Jeremiah 51:14
The Lord All-Powerful used his name to make this promise: "Babylon, I will fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a cloud of locusts. They will win their war against you. They will stand over you shouting their victory cry."
Amos 6:8
The Lord God used his own name and made an oath. The Lord God All-Powerful said, "I hate what Jacob is proud of. I hate his strong towers. So I will let an enemy take the city and everything in it."
Luke 1:73
This was the promise he made to our father Abraham,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He judged the cause of the poor and needy,.... Who could not defend themselves against the rich and the mighty; he took their cause in hand, and, having heard it, determined it in their favour, and did them justice, as princes and civil magistrates ought to do:

then [it was] well [with him]; this is repeated, not only to show the certainty of it, but that it might be observed, and his example followed:

[was] not this to know me? saith the Lord; it is not by words only, but by deeds, that men show that they know the Lord; for some in words profess to know him, who in works deny him; when princes do the duty of their office, they thereby declare that they know and own the Lord, by, and under whom, they reign; that they have the fear of him before their eyes; this is a practical knowledge of him, and is well pleasing to him. The Targum is,

"is not this the knowledge with which I am well pleased? saith the Lord.''


 
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