Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageDon't weep for the dead king—his story is sealed. Weep bitterly for the one dragged into exile, for he will never again lay eyes on his homeland.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GWeep not for the dead, nor grieve for him; weep bitterly rather for the one going into exile, for he shall never return to see his native land.
KJV
King James VersionWeep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleDo not weep for him who is dead; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for him who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.
Footnotes
The "dead" is Yoshiyahu (Josiah), killed at Megiddo (609 BC); the "one going into exile" is Shallum/Jehoahaz, deported to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho. The reversal is jarring: in ancient Near Eastern thought, death—especially an honoured death—was preferable to exile. Exile meant severance from land, temple, and covenant community. Yoshiyahu died in battle; Shallum would die in a foreign land, cut off from everything that defined him. Grief follows the living, not the fallen.