Jeremiah 22:1-9

1This is what the Lord says: “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. 3This is what the Lord says: “2Do justice and righteousness, and save one who has been robbed from the power of his 3oppressor. And 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 will indeed perform this 6instruction, then 7kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting 8in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, the king himself, his servants, and his people. 59But if you will not obey these words, I 10swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a place of ruins.”’” 6For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like 11Gilead to Me, Like the summit of Lebanon; Yet most assuredly I will make you a 12wilderness, Cities that are not inhabited.7For I will set apart 13destroyers against you, Each with his weapons; And they will 14cut down your choicest cedars And 15throw them on the fire.

8“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will 16say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’ 9Then they will 17answer, ‘Because they 18abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”