Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/615

---

the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. ⁵But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by Myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. ⁶For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

Thou art Gilead unto Me,

The head of Lebanon;

Yet surely I will make thee a wilderness,

Cities which are not inhabited.

⁷And I will prepare destroyers against thee,

Every one with his weapons;

And they shall cut down thy choice cedars,

And cast them into the fire.

⁸And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour: 'Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?' ⁹Then they shall answer: 'Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.'

¹⁰Weep ye not for the dead,

Neither bemoan him;

But weep sore for him that goeth away,

For he shall return no more,

Nor see his native country.

¹¹For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return thither any more; ¹²but in the place whither they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more.

¹³Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness,

And his chambers by injustice;

That useth his neighbour's service without wages,

And giveth him not his hire;

¹⁴That saith: 'I will build me a wide house

And spacious chambers',

And cutteth him out windows,

And it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

¹⁵Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar?

Did not thy father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness?

Then it was well with him.

¹⁶He judged the cause of the poor and needy;

Then it was well.

Is not this to know Me? saith the Lord.

¹⁷But thine eyes and thy heart

Are not but for thy covetousness,

And for shedding innocent blood,

And for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

¹⁸Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

They shall not lament for him:

'Ah my brother! ' or: 'Ah sister! '

They shall not lament for him:

'Ah lord! ' or: 'Ah his glory! '

¹⁹He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,

Drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

 

²⁰Go up to Lebanon, and cry,

And lift up thy voice in Bashan;

And cry from Abarim,

For all thy lovers are destroyed.

²¹I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity,

But thou saidst: 'I will not hear.'

This hath been thy manner from thy youth,

593