22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, ² and say, ^(A)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(B)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^(C)do no wrong or violence ^(D)to the resident alien, ^(E)the fatherless, and the widow, nor ^(F)shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you will indeed obey this word, ^(G)then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. ⁵ But if you will not obey these words, I ^(H)swear by myself, declares the Lord, that ^(I)this house shall become a desolation. ⁶ For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

⁸ “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbour, ^(N)“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” ^9 (O)And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshipped other gods and served them.”’”

Message to the Sons of Josiah

¹¹ For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and ^(R)who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, ¹² but ^(S)in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

⁴⁹ Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, ^(A)excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(A)Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another, ^10 (B)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^(C)or the poor, and ^(D)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”