Study Desk

"How terrible it will be for one who builds his palace by doing evil, who cheats people so he can build its upper rooms. He makes his own people work for nothing and does not pay them.

He says, ‘I will build a great palace for myself with large upper rooms.' So he builds it with large windows and uses cedar wood for the walls, which he paints red.

"Does having a lot of cedar in your house make you a great king? Your father was satisfied to have food and drink. He did what was right and fair, so everything went well for him.

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 .

"But you only look for and think about what you can get dishonestly. You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it. You feel free to hurt people and to steal from them."

So this is what the Lord says to Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "The people of Judah will not cry when Jehoiakim dies, saying: ‘Oh, my brother,' or ‘Oh, my sister.' They will not cry for him, saying: ‘Oh, master,' or ‘Oh, my king.'

"How terrible it will be for the leaders of Judah, who are scattering and destroying my people," says the Lord .

They are responsible for the people, so the Lord , the God of Israel, says to them: "You have scattered my people and forced them away and not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done," says the Lord .

I am against the prophets who prophesy false dreams," says the Lord . "They mislead my people with their lies and false teachings! I did not send them or command them to do anything for me. They can't help the people of Judah at all," says the Lord .

The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past twenty-three years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today, but you have not listened.

I will send for all the peoples of the north," says the Lord , "along with my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah, those who live there, and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries and leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly I have destroyed those countries.

That whole area will be an empty desert, and these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for seventy years.

"But when the seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his entire nation for their evil," says the Lord . "I will make that land a desert forever.

Even the Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve for all their own hands have done."

At that time those killed by the Lord will reach from one end of the earth to the other. No one will cry for them or gather up their bodies and bury them. They will be left lying on the ground like dung.

Cry, you leaders! Cry out loud! Roll around in the dust, leaders of the people! It is now time for you to be killed. You will fall and be scattered, like pieces of a broken jar.

There will be no place for the leaders to hide; they will not escape.

As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right.

All nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and grandson. Then the time will come for Babylon to be defeated, and many nations and great kings will make Babylon their servant.

Don't listen to those prophets. But serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. There is no reason for you to cause Jerusalem to become a ruin.