make thee a
wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. And I will prepare
destroyers against thee, everyone with his weapons: and they shall cut
down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations
shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor,
Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they
shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God,
and worshiped other gods, and served them.'

"Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him
who goeth away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native
country. For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of
Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who
went forth out of this place: 'He shall not return thither any more;
but in the place whither they have led him captive, there shall he
die, and he shall see this land no more.'

[Footnote: Shallum was perhaps the original name of Jehoahaz, the
preceding king, who after his brief reign had been carried captive
to Egypt. ]

"Woe unto him who buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by injustice; who useth his neighbor's service without wages,
and giveth him not his hire; who 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.

"Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? did not
thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? then it was
well with him. He judged the {337} cause of the poor and needy; then
it was well. 'Was not this to know me?' saith the Lord.

"But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and
to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do
it. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not lament for him, saying 'Ah, my
brother!' or, 'Ah sister!' they shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah
lord!' or, 'Ah his glory!'

'He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

"Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan: and cry
from Abarim; for all thy lovers are destroyed. I spake unto thee in
thy prosperity; but thou saidst, 'I will not hear.' This hath been thy
manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. The wind shall
feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captiv