Summary
The chapter opens with God commanding Jeremiah to speak to the king of Judah, demanding righteous judgment and protection of the vulnerable. If the king obeys, prosperity will return, but refusal leads to desolation and the city becoming a wasteland. God declares that Judah will be treated as a barren Gilead, with its cedar trees burned and its people scattered. Specific kings—Shalum, Jehoiakim, and Coniah (Jehoiachin)—are condemned for abandoning covenantal obligations, sowing injustice, and profiting from oppression. Their fortunes will be sealed: they will die in captivity, be buried like an ass, and their descendants will never reign again. The passage also highlights the broader consequences for the land and its people, who will be cast into foreign territories, especially Babylon, and will never return. The message emphasizes that prosperity comes from obeying God, while pride and disobedience invite ruin.