That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Parallel translations
- WEB who says, ‘I will build me a wide house and spacious rooms,’ and cuts out windows for himself; and it is ceiling with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
- BSB who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.
- NKJV Who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house with spacious chambers, And cut out windows for it, Paneling it with cedar And painting it with vermilion.’
- NASB Who says, ‘I will build myself a large house With spacious upstairs rooms, And cut out its windows, Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’
- NLT He says, ‘I will build a magnificent palace with huge rooms and many windows. I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedar and paint it a lovely red.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king lavishes attention on building a grand, cedar-paneled, painted palace. He pursues luxury while neglecting righteousness.
Overview
Jehoiakim's ambition was fixed on spacious rooms, large windows, and costly cedar and vermilion decoration, all signs of self-indulgent extravagance. The detail highlights misplaced priorities: grandeur for himself while justice for others was ignored. Scripture repeatedly warns against such vanity, contrasting it with the true greatness that consists in serving God and neighbor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Sam 7:2That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
- Isa 5:8–9Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
- Hag 1:4Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
- Prov 24:27Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
- Mal 1:4Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
- Isa 9:9And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
- 2 Chr 3:5And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
- Dan 4:30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
- Luke 14:28–29For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
- Prov 17:19He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
- Song 1:17The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 22:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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