5. But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the lord, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.’”
6. Now this is what the lord says concerning Judah’s royal palace:“I love you as much as fruitful Gileadand the green forests of Lebanon.But I will turn you into a desert,with no one living within your walls.
7. I will call for wreckers,who will bring out their tools to dismantle you.They will tear out all your fine cedar beamsand throw them on the fire.
8. “People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, ‘Why did the lord destroy such a great city?’
9. And the answer will be, ‘Because they violated their covenant with the lord their God by worshiping other gods.’”
10. Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss.Instead, weep for the captive king being led away!For he will never return to see his native land again.
11. For this is what the lord says about Jehoahaz, who succeeded his father, King Josiah, and was taken away as a captive: “He will never return.
12. He will die in a distant land and will never again see his own country.”