ity: surely
then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. O
inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how greatly
to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee! 'As I live,'
saith the Lord, 'though Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah
were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; and
I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into
the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
And I will cast thee out, and thy mother who bore thee, into another
country, where ye were not born; and there shall {338} ye die. But to
the land whereunto their soul longeth to return, thither shall they
not return.'

"Is this man Jehoiachin a despised broken vessel? is he a vessel
wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed,
and are cast into the land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the Lord.

"Thus saith the Lord, 'Write ye this man childless, a man that shall
not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting
upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.'

"'Woe unto the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture!' saith the Lord.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, against the
shepherds that feed my people: 'Ye have scattered my flock, and driven
them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you
the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant
of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and
will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and
multiply. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them:
and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be
lacking,' saith the Lord.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the land. In his days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name
whereby he shall be called, 'The Lord is our righteousness.'

{339}

"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no
more say, 'As the Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel
out of the land of Egypt'; but, 'As the Lord liveth, who brought up
and who led the seed of th