44
1 The
word that came
to Jeremiah
concerning all the
Jews who lived
in the land of
Egypt, who lived
at Migdol, and
at Tahpanhes, and
at Memphis, and
in the country of
Pathros, saying,
2 “The
LORD of Armies,
the God of
Israel, says: ‘You
have seen all
the evil that
I have brought
on Jerusalem, and
on all the
cities of Judah.
Behold, today they
are a desolation,
and no man
dwells in them,
3 because
of their
wickedness which
they have
committed to
provoke me to
anger, in that
they went to
burn incense, to
serve other gods that
they didn’t know,
neither they, nor
you, nor
your fathers.
4 However I
sent to you
all my servants
the prophets,
rising up early
and sending them,
saying, “Oh, don’t
do this abominable
thing that I
hate.”
5 But
they didn’t listen
and didn’t incline
their ear.
They didn’t turn
from their
wickedness, to
stop burning
incense to
other gods.
6 Therefore
my wrath and
my anger was
poured out, and
was kindled in
the cities of
Judah and in
the streets of
Jerusalem; and
they are wasted
and desolate, as
it is today.’
7 “Therefore
now the LORD,
the God of
Armies, the God
of Israel, says:
‘Why do you
commit great evil
against your own
souls, to cut
off from
yourselves man
and woman, infant
and nursing child
out of the
middle of Judah,
to leave
yourselves no one
remaining,
8 in
that you provoke
me to anger
with the works
of your hands,
burning incense to
other gods in
the land of Egypt
where you have
gone to live,
that you may
be cut off,
and that you
may be a
curse and a
reproach among all
the nations of
the earth?
9 Have
you forgotten the
wickedness of
your fathers, the
wickedness of the
kings of Judah,
the wickedness of
their wives, your own
wickedness, and
the wickedness of
your wives which
they committed in
the land of Judah
and in the
streets of
Jerusalem?
10 They
are not humbled
even to this
day, neither have
they feared, nor
walked in my
law, nor in
my statutes, that
I set before
you and before
your fathers.’
11 “Therefore
the LORD of
Armies, the God
of Israel, says:
‘Behold, I will
set my face
against you for
evil, even to
cut off all
Judah.
12 I
will take the
remnant of Judah
that have set
their faces to
go into the
land of Egypt
to live there,
and they will
all be consumed.
They will fall
in the land
of Egypt. They
will be consumed
by the sword
and by the
famine. They will
die, from the
least even to
the greatest, by
the sword and
by the famine.
They will be
an object of
horror, an
astonishment, a
curse, and a
reproach.
13 For
I will punish
those who dwell
in the land of
Egypt, as I
have punished
Jerusalem, by the
sword, by the
famine, and by
the pestilence;
14 so
that none of
the remnant of
Judah, who have
gone into the land
of Egypt to
live there, will
escape or be
left to return
into the land of
Judah, to which
they have a
desire to return
to dwell there;
for no one
will return except
those who will
escape.’ ”
15 Then
all the men
who knew that
their wives burned
incense to
other gods, and
all the women who
stood by, a
great assembly,
even all the
people who lived
in the land of
Egypt, in Pathros,
answered Jeremiah, saying,
16 “As
for the word
that you have
spoken to us
in the LORD’s
name, we will
not listen to
you.
17 But
we will certainly
perform every word
that has gone
out of our
mouth, to burn
incense to the
queen of the
sky and to
pour out drink
offerings to her,
as we have
done, we and
our fathers, our
kings and our
princes, in the
cities of Judah
and in the
streets of
Jerusalem; for
then we had
plenty of food,
and were well,
and saw no
evil.
18 But
since we stopped
burning incense to
the queen of
the sky, and
pouring out drink
offerings to her,
we have lacked
all things, and
have been consumed
by the sword
and by the
famine.”
19 The women
said, “When we
burned incense to
the queen of
the sky and
poured out drink
offerings to her,
did we make
her cakes to
worship her, and
pour out drink
offerings to her,
without our husbands?”
20 Then
Jeremiah said to
all the people—to
the men and
to the women, even
to all the
people who
had given him an
answer, saying,
21 “The
incense that you
burned in the
cities of Judah,
and in the
streets of
Jerusalem, you and
your fathers, your
kings and your
princes, and the
people of the land,
didn’t the LORD
remember them,
and didn’t it come
into his mind?
22 Thus
the LORD could
no longer bear
it, because of
the evil of
your doings and
because of the
abominations which
you have committed.
Therefore your
land has become
a desolation, an
astonishment, and
a curse, without
inhabitant, as it
is today.
23 Because
you have burned
incense and
because you have
sinned against the
LORD, and have
not obeyed the
LORD’s voice, nor
walked in his
law, nor in
his statutes, nor
in his testimonies;
therefore this
evil has happened
to you, as
it is today.”
24 Moreover
Jeremiah said to
all the people,
including all
the women, “Hear
the LORD’s word,
all Judah who
are in the land
of Egypt!
25 The
LORD of Armies,
the God of
Israel, says, ‘You
and your wives
have both spoken
with your mouths,
and with your
hands have
fulfilled it,
saying, “We will
surely perform our
vows that we
have vowed, to
burn incense to
the queen of
the sky, and
to pour out
drink offerings to
her.”
“ ‘Establish then
your vows, and
perform your vows.’
26 “Therefore
hear the LORD’s
word, all Judah
who dwell in
the land of Egypt:
‘Behold, I have
sworn by my
great name,’ says
the LORD, ‘that
my name will
no more be
named in the
mouth of any
man of Judah
in all the land
of Egypt, saying,
“As the Lord
GOD lives.”
27 Behold,
I watch over
them for evil,
and not for
good; and all
the men of
Judah who are
in the land of
Egypt will be
consumed by the
sword and by
the famine, until
they are all
gone.
28 Those
who escape the
sword will return
out of the land
of Egypt into
the land of Judah
few in number.
All the remnant
of Judah, who
have gone into
the land of Egypt
to live there,
will know whose
word will stand,
mine or theirs.
29 “ ‘This
will be the sign
to you,’ says
the LORD, ‘that
I will punish
you in this
place, that you
may know that
my words will
surely stand
against you for
evil.’
30 The
LORD says, ‘Behold,
I will give
Pharaoh Hophra
king of Egypt
into the hand
of his enemies
and into the
hand of those
who seek his
life, just as I
gave Zedekiah king
of Judah into
the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, who
was his enemy and
sought his life.’ ”