"Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil![769] Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it."[770] The thought of the Jewish king's selfish expensiveness may have crossed the mind of Habakkuk, though the taunt is addressed directly to the Chaldæans, and especially to Nebuchadrezzar, who was at that time revelling in the beautifying of Babylon, and especially of his own royal palace. On the other hand, the rebuke, or rather the denunciation, uttered by Jeremiah against the king for this line of conduct, and for the forced labour which it required, is terribly direct. "'Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, And his chambers by wrong; That useth his neighbour's service without wages, And giveth him not his hire; That saith, "I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers," And cutteth out windows; And it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign because thou viest with the cedar?[771] Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? Then it was well with him! Was not this to know Me?' saith the Lord. 'But thine heart is not but for thy dishonest gain, And for to shed innocent blood, And for oppression and for violence to do it.'"[772] Then follows the stern message of doom which we shall quote hereafter. The king's bad example stimulated or perhaps emulated similar folly and want of patriotism on the part of his nobles. They were shepherds who destroyed and scattered the sheep of Jehovah's pastures. But vain was their imagined security, and their ostentation. The judgment was imminent.[773] "O inhabitress of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars," exclaims the prophet in bitter mockery, "how greatly wilt thou groan when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!"[774] But Jehoiakim's offences were deadlier than this. The Chronicler speaks of "the abominations which he did"; and some have therefore supposed that the evil state of things described by Jeremiah (xix.) refers to this reign. If so, he plunged into the idolatry which caused Judah to be shivered like a potter's vessel. Certainly he sinned grievously against God in the person of His prophets.