Jeremiah 22:13
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 for his work; 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 for his work;
The woe is a sentence of judgment on building a house and its chambers and gaining wealth and comfort by unrighteousness and wrong, including using a neighbor's service without wages and withholding pay for work. It fell on Jehoiakim son of Josiah for building himself a wide house with large chambers ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion by money and labor secured through fraud and oppression. It was spoken while messages of impending doom were being urged upon princes and people, when he should have been a wise spiritual leader foremost in confession of sin and in reformation and good works, but instead he spent his time in selfish pleasure.
The surrounding verses describe this wrongdoing as driven by covetousness and joined with oppression, violence, and the shedding of innocent blood. The following verses contrast this conduct with a former king who practiced judgment and justice and defended the poor and needy, showing that knowing God is revealed in such just treatment. Grand houses and luxurious materials cannot establish a ruler's right to reign; only doing justice and defending the poor and needy shows true knowledge of God, while covetousness, bloodshed, oppression, and violence bring judgment. Judah had received great light, blessings, and prosperity, but its unfaithfulness to its trust and failure to render the fruits of the vineyard, acting as though there were no God, brought desolation.
The verse condemns manufacturers and sellers of intoxicating liquor as robbers because buyers receive no equivalent for their money, and every dollar added to the sellers' gains brings a curse to the spender. It exposes how God's gifts of grain and fruit, meant to sustain people, are turned by greed and appetite into poisons that bring misery and ruin. It applies to the liquor seller who grows rich by degrading people and causing misery: despite worldly approval, God sees the harm and will hold him accountable for the suffering, deprivation, and lost hope brought on others. It applies to liquor sellers who enrich themselves by degrading people: God sees the misery their trade causes and will hold them accountable for the suffering of families and for the souls they lead toward ruin. Those who support the liquor seller share in his guilt.