10 Don’t cry for the dead.Don’t shake your heads at them.Cry bitterly for those who are taken away,because they won’t come back to see their homeland.
11 This is what the Lord says about King Josiah’s son Shallum, who succeeded his father as king of Judah and left this place: He will never come back here again.
12 He will die in the place where he was taken captive, and he will never see this land again.
13 “How horrible it will be for the person who builds his house dishonestlyand his upper rooms through injustice.He makes his neighbors work for nothingand doesn’t pay them for their work.
14 He says, ‘I will build a large house for myself with big upper rooms.’He cuts out windows in it,panels the rooms with cedar,and paints them red.
15 Do you think you’re a better king than othersbecause you use more cedar?Your father ate and drank and did what is fair and right.Everything went well for him.
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy.Everything went well for him.Isn’t this what it means to know me?” asks the Lord.