Jeremiah Asked to Pray for the People

42 Then all the military leaders, Kareah’s son Jonathan, Hoshaiah’s son Jezaniah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah.^{[a] 2} They told Jeremiah the prophet, “Please listen to what we have to ask of you. Pray to the Lord your God for us and for all these survivors. Indeed, only a few of us remain out of many, as you can see.^{[b] 3} Pray that the Lord your God may inform us as to how we should live^[c] and what we should do.”

⁴ Jeremiah the prophet told them, “I’ve heard, and I’m going to pray to the Lord your God just as you have requested. Whatever the Lord answers, I’ll tell you. I won’t withhold anything from you.”

⁵ Then they told Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don’t do everything that the Lord your God tells us through you.^{[d] 6} Whether it seems good or bad, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we send you, so it may go well for us. Indeed, we will obey the Lord our God.”

The Lord’s Answer through Jeremiah

⁷ At the end of ten days a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ So he called Kareah’s son Jonathan, all the military leaders who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest. ⁹ He told them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, to whom you sent me to take your request:

The Refugees Reject the Lord’s Instruction

43 When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words that the Lord their God had sent him to tell them—that is, all these words— ² Hoshaiah’s son Azariah, Kareah’s son Johanan, and all the arrogant men told Jeremiah, “You’re lying! The Lord our God didn’t send you to say, ‘Don’t go to Egypt to settle there.’ ³ Indeed, Neriah’s son Baruch is inciting you against us in order to give us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, or to take us into exile to Babylon.”

⁴ So Kareah’s son Johanan, all the military leaders, and all the people did not obey the instructions given by^[i] the Lord to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵ Kareah’s son Johanan and all the military leaders took the entire remnant of Judah that had returned from all the nations where they had been scattered to settle in the land of Judah— ⁶ the young men, the women, the children, the daughters of the king, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, along with Jeremiah the prophet and Neriah’s son Baruch. ⁷ So they went into the land of Egypt, because they did not obey the Lord, and they travelled as far as Tahpanhes.^[j]

Nebuchadnezzar’s Invasion of Egypt Predicted

⁸ Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes: ⁹ “Take large stones in your hands, and, in the sight of the men of Judah, bury them in the mortar of the brickwork at the entrance of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes. ¹⁰ Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I’m going to send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’ll take him and set his throne over these stones that I’ve buried, and he will spread his canopy over them. ¹¹ He will come and attack the land of Egypt—those meant for death will be put to death, those meant for captivity will be taken captive, and those meant for the sword will be put to the sword. ¹² He^[k] will set fire to the temples^[l] of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their idols^[m] and take them captive. He will wrap himself with the land of Egypt like a shepherd wraps himself with a garment, and then he will leave from there in peace. ¹³ He will shatter the pillars of Heliopolis^[n] in the land of Egypt and will burn the temples of the gods of Egypt with fire.”’”

Jeremiah Warns the Refugees in Egypt

44 This is the message that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the land of Pathros,^[o] saying, ² “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. Look, they’re in ruins today, with no one living in them, ³ because of the^[p] wickedness that they did, provoking me to anger by continuing to offer sacrifices and worship other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors had known. ⁴ Yet I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again,^[q] saying, “Don’t do this repulsive thing that I hate.” ⁵ ‘But they didn’t listen or pay attention^[r] by turning from their wickedness and not offering sacrifices to other gods. ⁶ My wrath and my anger were poured out, and they burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem so that they have become a ruin and a desolate place, as is the case today.’

⁷ “Now, this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why are you doing great harm to yourselves so as to cut off from Judah^[s] man and woman, child and infant from you, leaving yourselves without a remnant? ⁸ And why have you provoked me to anger by the works of your hands,^[t] by offering sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to settle so that you cut yourselves off and become an object of ridicule and scorn among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the evil deeds of your ancestors, the evil deeds of the kings of Judah, the evil deeds of their^[u] wives, your evil deeds, and the evil deeds of your wives, that they did in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ To this day they haven’t humbled themselves, they haven’t shown reverence for the Lord,^[v] and they haven’t lived according to my Law and my statutes that I set before them and before their ancestors.’

¹¹ “Therefore, this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I’ve determined to bring disaster on you^[w] and to cut off all Judah. ¹² I’ll take the remnant of Judah that determined to go to the land of Egypt to settle there, and all of them^[x] will come to an end in the land of Egypt. They’ll fall by the sword, and they’ll come to an end by famine. They’ll become a curse, an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn. ¹³ I’ll punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem—with the sword, with famine, and with plague. ¹⁴ Of the remnant of Judah that came into the land of Egypt to settle there, no one will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah where they long to return and live.^[y] Indeed, they won’t return, except for some^[z] refugees.’”

The Refugees Refuse to Repent

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were offering sacrifices to other gods and all the women who were standing by—a large group, including all the people who were living in the land of Egypt in Pathros—answered Jeremiah: ¹⁶ “As for the message that you reported to us in the name of the Lord, we won’t listen to you! ¹⁷ Rather, we will keep doing everything that we said we would^[aa] by offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven^[ab] and by pouring out liquid offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of bread, things went well for us, and we didn’t experience disaster. ¹⁸ From the time we stopped offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been consumed^[ac] by the sword and famine. ¹⁹ Indeed, we^[ad] are going to continue offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her. And do you think we have made^[ae] cakes to represent her or poured out liquid offerings for her without our husbands’ approval?”^[af]

Final Judgment Proclaimed

²⁰ Then Jeremiah spoke a message to all the people, to the young men, to the women, and to all the people who were answering him: ²¹ “As for the sacrifices that you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land offered in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the Lord remembered them, did he not? And they came to his attention, did they not? ²² The Lord could no longer bear it because of your evil deeds and the repulsive things that you did. So your land has become a ruin and an object of horror and ridicule without an inhabitant, as is the case today. ²³ Because you offered sacrifices and sinned against the Lord, you didn’t obey the Lord and didn’t live according to his Law, his statutes, or his testimonies; therefore, this disaster has happened to you, as is the case today.”

²⁴ Then Jeremiah told all the people and all the women, “All you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt, listen to this message from the Lord! ²⁵ This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and acted with your hands: “We will certainly carry through^[ag] on the vows that we vowed to offer sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pour out liquid offerings to her!” Go ahead, carry through on your vows, and diligently do what you vowed!’ ²⁶ But^[ah] listen to this message from the Lord, all you people of^[ai] Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. ‘Look, I’ve sworn by my great name’, says the Lord, ‘my name will no longer be invoked by the mouth of any person in the entire land of Egypt, as he says, “As surely as the Lord God^[aj] lives…”^[ak]

²⁷ “‘Look, I’m watching over them to bring disaster rather than good. Every person of Judah in the land of Egypt will be brought to an end by the sword and by famine until they’re completely gone. ²⁸ The ones who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have come into the land of Egypt to settle will know whose message will stand, mine or theirs. ²⁹ This will be a sign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I’ll punish you in this place so that you may know that my words concerning disaster against you will surely stand.’

³⁰ This is what the Lord says: “Look, I’m going to give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and into the hands of those seeking his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking his life.”

False Reliance on Abraham’s Heritage

²¹ On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a fugitive who had escaped from Jerusalem came and informed me, “The city has been destroyed.”

²² Now the hand of the Lord had been touching me the evening before that fugitive arrived, so the Lord had given me something to say by the time the messenger^[a] arrived the next morning. He opened my mouth and I no longer had nothing to say to him.^{[b] 23} As a result, this message came to me from the Lord:

²⁴ “Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we’re a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.’ ²⁵ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You keep eating flesh along with its blood, you keep looking to your idols, and you keep shedding blood, and you’re going to take possession of the land? ²⁶ You keep trusting in your weapons, you continue to commit loathsome deeds, men keep defiling their neighbors’ wives, and you’re going to take possession of the land?’

²⁷ “Tell them this: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “As certainly as I’m alive and living, those who live in the wastelands are certain to die violently,^[c] I’ll give those who die in the open fields to the wild animals for food, and whoever takes refuge in caves and fortified places will die of diseases. ²⁸ Then I’ll turn the land into a desolate ruin and her arrogant strength will come to an abrupt end. The mountains of Israel will become so desolate that no one will be able to travel over them.” ²⁹ ‘Then they’ll learn that I am the Lord, when I’ve turned their land into a desolate wasteland because of all of the loathsome deeds that they’ve committed.’”

The Disobedient Exiles of Babylon

³⁰ “Now as for you, Son of Man, your nation’s children keep gathering together to talk about you beside the walls and at the doorway to their houses. Everyone tells one another, ‘Please come! Let’s go hear what the Lord has to say!’ ³¹ Then they come to you as a group, sit down right in front of you as if they were my people, hear your words—and then they don’t do what you say—^[d] because they’re seeking only their own desires,^[e] they pursue ill-gotten profits, and they keep following their own self-interests. ³² As far as they are concerned, you sing romantic songs with a beautiful voice and play a musical instrument well. They’ll listen to what you have to say, but they won’t put it into practice! ³³ When all of this comes about—and you can be sure that it will!—they’ll learn that a prophet has been in their midst.”