¹ Thus says Jehovah: Go·​·down·​·to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

² and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who sittest upon the throne of David, thou^◦, and thy servants, and thy people who come·​·in by these gates:

³ thus says Jehovah, Do ye judgment and justice, and rescue from the hand of the oppressor what is taken·​·by·​·robbery; and exploit not the sojourner, the orphan and the widow; do· no^◦ ·violence, and shed not innocent blood in this place.

⁴ For if doing you do this thing, then shall there come·​·in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on^◦ horses, he^◦, and his servants, and his people.

⁵ But if you will not hear these words, I promise in Myself, says^◦ Jehovah, that this house shall become a waste.

⁶ For thus says Jehovah against the house of the king of Judah; Thou^◦ art as Gilead to Me, as the head of Lebanon; yet surely I will set^◦ thee for a wilderness, for cities not dwelt·​·in.

⁷ And I will sanctify destroyers against thee, a man^◦ and his weapons^◦; and they shall cut·​·off thy choice cedars, and cause them to fall on the fire.

⁸ And many nations shall pass by^◦ this city, and they shall say, a man^◦ to^▵ his companion, Wherefore has Jehovah done as·​·thus unto this great city?

⁹ Then they shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

¹⁰ Weep ye not for the dead, and be· not ·sorry for him; but weeping you shall Weep for him who goes^◦ into captivity; for he shall return no^◦ more^◦ and see the land of his birth.

¹¹ For thus says Jehovah concerning^▵ Shallum the son of Josiah^◦ king of Judah, who reigned instead·​·of Josiah^◦ his father, who went·​·out from this place; He shall not return thither any·​·more:

¹² but^◦ he shall·​·die in the place whither they have led him into exile, and shall see this land no^◦ more^◦.

¹³ Woe to him who builds his house with no^◦ justice, and his upper·​·rooms with no^◦ judgment, with his companion serving for·​·nothing, and for his work he gives him not;

¹⁴ who says, I will build for myself a measurable house and spacious upper·​·rooms; and he cuts out windows for himself; and it is paneled with cedar, and anointed^* with vermilion.

¹⁵ Shalt thou reign, because^◦ thou^◦ competest with the cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then^▵ it was well for him?

¹⁶ He made·​·the·​·cause for the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was good. Was this^◦ not knowing Me? says^◦ Jehovah.

¹⁷ For thine eyes and thy heart are nothing^◦ but^◦ for^▵ thy gain, and for^▵ shedding innocent blood, and for^▵ oppression, and for^▵ clashing, to do it.

¹⁸ Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning^▵ Jehoiakim the son of Josiah^◦ king of Judah; They shall not wail for him, saying, Woe my brother! and, Woe sisters! They shall not wail for him, saying, Woe lord! and, Woe his majesty!

¹⁹ He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰ Go·​·up·​·to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the crossings; for all thy lovers are broken.

²¹ I spoke to^▵ thee in thy tranquility; but thou didst say, I will not hear. This has been thy way from thy youth, that thou didst not obey My voice.

²² The wind shall shepherd all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into the captivity; for then shalt thou be·​·ashamed and humiliated on account of all thine evil.

²³ O she who dwells in Lebanon, making· thy ·nest in the cedars, how gracious· shalt thou ·be when pangs come to thee, the travailing as of a woman giving·​·birth!

²⁴ As I^◦ live, says^◦ Jehovah, though^◦ Coniah^◦ the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on My right hand, surely^▵ I would pull· thee ·out from there;

²⁵ and I will give thee into the hand of those who seek thy soul, and into the hand of them of whose faces thou^◦ art afraid, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ And I will throw thee out, and thy mother who gave·​·birth to thee, into another land, where you were not born; and there shall you die.

²⁷ But on the land where^▵ they^◦ bear their soul to return, thither they shall not return.

²⁸ Is this man^◦ Coniah^◦ a despised, shattered idol^◦? Is he a vessel in which is no delight? Wherefore are they thrown, he^◦ and his seed, and are cast upon a land which they know not?

²⁹ O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah.

³⁰ Thus says Jehovah, Write ye that this man^◦ is 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.

¹ Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

² Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.

³ "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.

⁴ Boiling over as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

⁵ "Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence.

⁶ My soul, don't come into their council. My glory, don't be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ "Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down before you.

⁹ Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?

¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

¹¹ Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹² His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk.

¹³ "Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon.

¹⁴ "Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.

¹⁵ He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and becomes a servant doing forced labor.

¹⁶ "Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.

¹⁸ I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

¹⁹ "A troop will press on Gad, but he will press on their heel.

²⁰ "Asher's food will be rich. He will yield royal dainties.

²¹ "Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns.

²² "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall.

²³ The archers have severely grieved him, shot at him, and persecute him:

²⁴ But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

²⁵ even by the God of your father, who will help you; by the Almighty, who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

²⁶ The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

²⁷ "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil."

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing.

²⁹ He instructed them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.

³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:

³² the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth."

³³ When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.