በክፉዎች ነገሥታት ላይ የተሰጠ ፍርድ
1እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ “ወደ ይሁዳ ንጉሥ ቤተ መንግሥት ውረድ፤ ይህንም መልእክት በዚያ እንዲህ ብለህ ተናገር፤ 2‘በዳዊት ዙፋን የተቀመጥህ፣ የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ አንተና መኳንንትህ፣ በእነዚህም በሮች የሚገባ ሕዝብህ፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስሙ። 3እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ “ፍትሕንና ጽድቅን አድርጉ፤ የተበዘበዘውን ከጨቋኙ እጅ አድኑት፤ መጻተኛውን፣ ወላጅ የሌለውንና መበለቲቱን አትበድሉ፤ አትግፏቸውም፤ በዚህም ስፍራ ንጹሕ ደም አታፍስሱ። 4እነዚህን ትእዛዞች በሚገባ ብትጠብቁ፣ በዳዊት ዙፋን ላይ የሚቀመጡ ነገሥታት፣ ከመኳንንታቸውና ከሕዝባቸው ጋር በሠረገሎችና በፈረሶች ተቀምጠው በዚህ ቤተ መንግሥት በሮች ይገባሉ፤ ይወጣሉም። 5ነገር ግን እነዚህን ትእዛዞች ባትጠብቁ፣ ይህ ቤተ መንግሥት እንዲወድም በራሴ ምያለሁ፤” ይላል እግዚአብሔር።’ ”
6ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር ስለ ይሁዳ ንጉሥ ቤተ መንግሥት እንዲህ ይላል፤
“አንተ ለእኔ እንደ ገለዓድ፣
እንደ ሊባኖስ ተራራ ጫፍ ውብ ብትሆንም፣
በርግጥ እንደ ምድረ በዳ፣
ሰው እንደማይኖርባቸው ከተሞች አደርግሃለሁ።
7በነፍስ ወከፍ መሣሪያ የሚይዙትን፣
አጥፊዎችን በአንተ ላይ አዘጋጃለሁ።
ምርጥ የዝግባ ዛፎችን ይቈርጣሉ፤
ወደ እሳትም ይጥሏቸዋል።
8“ከተለያየ አገር የመጡ ሕዝቦች በዚህች ከተማ በኩል ሲያልፉ፣ ‘እግዚአብሔር በዚህች ታላቅ ከተማ ላይ ለምን እንዲህ አደረገ?’ እያሉ እርስ በርስ ይነጋገራሉ፤ 9ከዚያም፣ ‘የአምላካቸውን የእግዚአብሔርን ኪዳን ትተው ሌሎችን አማልክት ስላመለኩና ስላገለገሉ ነው’ ይላሉ።”
10ከእንግዲህ ስለማይመለስ፣
የተወለደባትንም ምድር ዳግመኛ ስለማያይ፣
ለተማረከው ንጉሥ አምርራችሁ አልቅሱ እንጂ፣
ቀድሞ ለሞተው አታልቅሱ፤ አትዘኑም።
11በአባቱ ምትክ በይሁዳ ላይ ስለ ነገሠው፣ ከዚህ ስፍራ በምርኮ ስለ ተወሰደው፣ ስለ ኢዮስያስ ልጅ ስለ ሰሎ22፥11 ኢዮአካዝ ተብሎም ይጠራል። እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላልና፤ “ከእንግዲህ አይመለስም፤ 12ተማርኮ በሄደበት አገር ይሞታል እንጂ ይህችን ምድር ዳግመኛ አያይም።”
13“ቤተ መንግሥቱን በግፍ ለሚሠራ፣
ሰገነቱንም ፍትሕ በማዛባት ለሚገነባ፣
ወገኑን በነጻ ለሚያሠራ፣
የድካሙንም ዋጋ ለማይከፍለው፣
14‘ባለ ትልልቅ ሰገነት፣
ሰፊ ቤተ መንግሥት ለራሴ እሠራለሁ’ ለሚል ወዮለት!
ሰፋፊ መስኮቶችን ያበጅለታል፤
በዝግባ ዕንጨት ያስጌጠዋል፤
ቀይ ቀለምም ይቀባዋል።
15“በዝግባ ዕንጨት ብዛት፣
የነገሥህ ይመስልሃልን?
አባትህስ ፍትሕንና ጽድቅን በማድረጉ፣
የሚበላውና የሚጠጣው ጐድሎት ነበርን?
እነሆ፤ ሁሉም መልካም ሆነለት።
16የድኾችንና የችግረኞችን ፍትሕ አላጓደለም፤
ስለዚህም ሁሉ መልካም ሆነለት።
እኔን ማወቅ ማለት ይህ አይደለምን?”
ይላል እግዚአብሔር።
17“የአንተ ዐይንና ልብ ያረፉት ግን፣
አጭበርብሮ ጥቅምን በማግኘት፣
የንጹሑን ደም በማፍሰስ፣
ጭቈናንና ግፍን በመሥራት ላይ ብቻ ነው።”
18ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር ስለ ይሁዳ ንጉሥ ስለ ኢዮስያስ ልጅ ስለ ኢዮአቄም እንዲህ ይላል፤
“ ‘ዋይ ወንድሜ! ዋይ፣ እኅቴን!’
ብለው አያለቅሱለትም።
‘ዋይ፣ ጌታዬን! ዋይ፣ ለግርማዊነቱ!’
ብለውም አያለቅሱለትም።
19አህያ እንደሚቀበር ይቀበራል፤
ከኢየሩሳሌም በሮች ውጪ፤
ተጐትቶ ይጣላል።
20“ሊባኖስ ላይ ወጥተሽ ጩኺ፤
ድምፅሽን በባሳን አሰሚ፤
በዓባሪም ሆነሽ ጩኺ፤
ወዳጆችሽ ሁሉ ወድመዋልና።
21ተመችቶሽ በነበረ ጊዜ አስጠነቀቅሁሽ፤
አንቺ ግን፣ ‘አልሰማም’ አልሽ፤
ከትንሽነትሽ ጀምሮ መንገድሽ ይኸው ነበር፤
ቃሌንም አልሰማሽም።
22እረኞችሽ ሁሉ በነፋስ ይወሰዳሉ፤
ወዳጆችሽም ተማርከው ይሄዳሉ፤
ከክፋትሽም ሁሉ የተነሣ፣
ታፍሪያለሽ፤ ትዋረጂያለሽም።
23አንቺ፣ ‘በሊባኖስ’22፥23 ሊባኖስ የተባለው በኢየሩሳሌም ያለው ቤተ መንግሥት ነው (1ነገ 7፥23 ይመ)። ውስጥ የምትኖሪ፣
መኖሪያሽን በዝግባ ዛፍ የሠራሽ ሆይ፤
ምጥ እንደ ያዛት ሴት፣
መከራ በላይሽ ሲመጣ ጩኸትሽ እንዴት ይሆን!
24“በሕያውነቴ እምላለሁ”፤ ይላል እግዚአብሔር “የይሁዳ ንጉሥ የኢዮአቄም ልጅ ኢኮንያን22፥24 በዕብራይስጥ ኮንያ ሲሆን የኢዮአኪን አቻ ስም ቃል ነው፤ 28 ይመ። የቀኝ እጄ የቀለበት ማኅተም ብትሆን እንኳ ኖሮ፣ አውልቄ እጥልሃለሁ፤ 25ሕይወትህን ለሚሿት፣ ለምትፈራቸው ለባቢሎናውያንና22፥25 ወይም ከለዳውያን ለባቢሎን ንጉሥ ለናቡከደነፆር አሳልፌ እሰጥሃለሁ። 26አንተንና የወለደችህን እናትህን ወዳልተወለዳችሁበት ወደ ሌላ አገር ወርውሬ እጥላችኋለሁ፤ በዚያም ትሞታላችሁ። 27ልትመለሱባት ወደ ምትናፍቋት ምድር ከቶ አትመለሱም።”
28ይህ ኢኮንያን የተባለ ሰው፣ የተናቀና የተሰበረ ገንቦ፣
ማንም የማይፈልገው ዕቃ ነውን?
እርሱና ልጆቹ ለምን ወደ ውጪ ተጣሉ?
ወደማያውቁትስ ምድር ለምን ተወረወሩ?
29ምድር ሆይ፤ አንቺ ምድር፣ አንቺ ምድር፤
የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስሚ!
30እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤
“አንድ እንኳ የረባ ዘር የማይወጣለት፣
አንድ እንኳ በዳዊት ዙፋን የሚቀመጥ፣
ወይም በይሁዳ የሚገዛ የማይኖረው ነውና፤
በሕይወት ዘመኑ የማይከናወንለት፣
መካን ሰው ብላችሁ መዝግቡት።”
Judgment against wicked kings
1This is what the Lord says: ‘Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2“Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne – you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. 3This is what the Lord says: do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.” ’
6For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:
‘Though you are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
I will surely make you like a wasteland,
like towns not inhabited.
7I will send destroyers against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.
8‘People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 9And the answer will be: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshipped and served other gods.” ’
10Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return
nor see his native land again.
11For this is what the Lord says about Shallum22:11 Also called Jehoahaz son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: ‘He will never return. 12He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.’
13‘Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying them for their labour.
14He says, “I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.”
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red.
15‘Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
16He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?’
declares the Lord.
17‘But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and extortion.’
18Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
‘They will not mourn for him:
“Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him:
“Alas, my master! Alas, his splendour!”
19He will have the burial of a donkey –
dragged away and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.’
20‘Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
let your voice be heard in Bashan,
cry out from Abarim,
for all your allies are crushed.
21I warned you when you felt secure,
but you said, “I will not listen!”
This has been your way from your youth;
you have not obeyed me.
22The wind will drive all your shepherds away,
and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
because of all your wickedness.
23You who live in “Lebanon,22:23 That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)”
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain like that of a woman in labour!
24‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘even if you, Jehoiachin22:24 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin; also in verse 28 son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear – Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.22:25 Or Chaldeans 26I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.’
28Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no-one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know?
29O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30This is what the Lord says:
‘Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah.’
