Jeremiah 22:1-9

1Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who 1sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3Thus says the Lord, “2Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his 3oppressor. Also 4do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not 5shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then 6kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting 7in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. 58But if you will not obey these words, I 9swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.”’” 6For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like 10Gilead to Me, Like the summit of Lebanon; Yet most assuredly I will make you like a 11wilderness, Like cities which are not inhabited.7For I will set apart 12destroyers against you, Each with his weapons; And they will 13cut down your choicest cedars And 14throw them on the fire.

8“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will 15say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?’ 9Then they will 16answer, ‘Because they 17forsook the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”