Judgment for Idolatry

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at (A)Migdol, at (B)Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of (C)Pathros, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day (D)they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the evil that they committed, (E)provoking me to anger, (F)in that they went to make offerings (G)and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. (H)Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ (I)But they did not listen (J)or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. (K)Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, (L)and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil (M)against yourselves, to cut off from you (N)man and woman, (O)infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? (P)Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, (Q)making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become (R)a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, (S)the evil of the kings of Judah, (T)the evil of their[a] wives, your own evil, (U)and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day, (V)nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (W)Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have (X)set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. (Y)In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine (Z)they shall be consumed. (AA)From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, (AB)and they shall become an oath, a horror, (AC)a curse, and a taunt. 13 (AD)I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 (AE)so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive (AF)or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, (AG)except some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that (AH)their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in (AI)Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, (AJ)we will not listen to you. 17 (AK)But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to (AL)the queen of heaven (AM)and pour out drink offerings to her, (AN)as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to (AO)the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything (AP)and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said,[b] “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven (AQ)and poured out drink offerings to her, was it (AR)without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, (AS)men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 (AT)“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, (AU)did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 (AV)The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and (AW)the abominations that you committed. (AX)Therefore your land has become (AY)a desolation and a waste and a curse, (AZ)without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings (BA)and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies (BB)that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, (BC)all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (BD)You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, (BE)to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, (BF)all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: (BG)Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, (BH)that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, (BI)saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 (BJ)Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. (BK)All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28 (BL)And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, (BM)few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, (BN)shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that (BO)my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give (BP)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies (BQ)and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave (BR)Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:9 Hebrew his
  2. Jeremiah 44:19 Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said

Conquest of Egypt Predicted

44 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in (A)Migdol, (B)Tahpanhes, (C)Memphis, and the land of (D)Pathros, saying, “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in (E)ruins and no one lives in them, (F)because of their wickedness which they committed to (G)provoke Me to anger by continuing to (H)burn [a]sacrifices and to (I)serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. Yet I (J)sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this (K)abominable thing which I hate.” But (L)they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn [b]sacrifices to other gods. Therefore My (M)wrath and My anger gushed out and burned in the (N)cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become ruins and a (O)desolation as it is this day. Now then, this is what the Lord God of armies, the God of Israel says: “Why are you (P)doing great harm to yourselves, to (Q)eliminate from yourselves man and woman, child and infant from among Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant, (R)provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, (S)burning [c]sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you are entering to reside, so that you may be eliminated and become a (T)curse and a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the (U)wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah and 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 Yet they (V)have not become [d]contrite even to this day, nor have they feared, nor (W)walked in My Law or My statutes, which I placed before you and before your fathers.”’

11 “Therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to (X)set My face against you for a disaster, even to eliminate all Judah. 12 And I will (Y)take away the remnant of Judah who have set their [e]minds on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all [f](Z)meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or meet their end by famine. From the small to the great, they will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a (AA)curse, an object of horror, [g]an imprecation, and a disgrace. 13 And I will (AB)punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with plague. 14 So there will be (AC)no survivor or refugee for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are [h](AD)longing to return to live; for none will (AE)return except a few refugees.’”

15 Then (AF)all the men who were aware that their wives were burning [i]sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, [j]including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, 16 “As for the [k](AG)message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, (AH)we are not going to listen to you! 17 But we will certainly (AI)carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, [l]by burning [m]sacrifices to the (AJ)queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as (AK)we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had (AL)plenty of [n]food and were well off and saw no [o]misfortune. 18 But since we stopped burning [p]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have (AM)lacked everything, and have met our end by the sword and by famine.” 19 “And,” said the women, “when we were (AN)burning [q]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and [r]pouring out drink offerings to her, was it (AO)without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes [s]in her image, and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Disaster for the Jews

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying, 21 “As for the [t](AP)smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the (AQ)streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land, did the Lord not (AR)remember them, and did all of this not come into His [u]mind? 22 So the Lord was (AS)no longer able to endure it, (AT)because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; so your land has become a (AU)place of ruins, an object of horror, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 Since you have burned [v]sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and (AV)not obeyed the voice of the Lord nor (AW)walked in His Law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this (AX)disaster has happened to you, as it has this day.”

24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “(AY)Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are (AZ)in the land of Egypt! 25 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel [w]says: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will (BA)certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn [x]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” (BB)By all means fulfill your vows, and be sure to perform your vows!’ 26 [y]In return, hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have (BC)sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name shall (BD)never be invoked again by the mouth of anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “(BE)As the Lord [z]God lives.” 27 Behold, I am watching over them (BF)for harm and not for good, and (BG)all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will [aa]meet their end by the sword or by famine until they [ab]are completely gone. 28 (BH)Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah [ac](BI)few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know (BJ)whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. 29 And this will be the (BK)sign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that (BL)My words will assuredly stand against you for harm.’ 30 This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand (BM)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who seek his life, just as I handed (BN)Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:3 Or incense
  2. Jeremiah 44:5 Or incense
  3. Jeremiah 44:8 Or incense
  4. Jeremiah 44:10 Lit crushed
  5. Jeremiah 44:12 Lit faces
  6. Jeremiah 44:12 Lit be finished
  7. Jeremiah 44:12 Lit a curse-formula
  8. Jeremiah 44:14 Lit lifting up their soul
  9. Jeremiah 44:15 Or incense
  10. Jeremiah 44:15 Lit and
  11. Jeremiah 44:16 Lit word
  12. Jeremiah 44:17 Or so as to burn
  13. Jeremiah 44:17 Or incense
  14. Jeremiah 44:17 Lit bread
  15. Jeremiah 44:17 Lit evil
  16. Jeremiah 44:18 Or incense
  17. Jeremiah 44:19 Or incense
  18. Jeremiah 44:19 Lit to pour
  19. Jeremiah 44:19 Lit to make an image of her
  20. Jeremiah 44:21 Or incense
  21. Jeremiah 44:21 Lit heart
  22. Jeremiah 44:23 Or incense
  23. Jeremiah 44:25 Lit says, saying
  24. Jeremiah 44:25 Or incense
  25. Jeremiah 44:26 Lit Therefore
  26. Jeremiah 44:26 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  27. Jeremiah 44:27 Lit be finished
  28. Jeremiah 44:27 Lit come to an end
  29. Jeremiah 44:28 Lit men of number