| 1 This 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 , O king of Judah, you who sit on David\'s throne-you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.
3 This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For 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.
5 But if you do not obey these commands, declares the LORD , I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.\' \"
6 For 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 desert, like towns not inhabited.
7 I 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?\'
9 And the answer will be: \'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.\' \"
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