Jeremiah 44
The Voice
44 This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning the Judeans living in the northern Egyptian cities of Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the southern region of Pathros.
Some time has now passed since the Judeans who were not deported to Babylon fled to Egypt in a kind of self-imposed exile. Their reason for leaving Judah and settling in Egypt is fear—fear of reprisal from Nebuchadnezzar for the assassination of Gedaliah. Against the protests of Jeremiah, the people settle down in Egypt. Ironically, as they escape the wrath of the dreaded Babylonian king, they foolishly ignore the wrath of God that follows their complete disregard of His prophet. Jeremiah now delivers what will be his last recorded message to these faithless Judeans who have settled in Egypt.
Jeremiah: 2-3 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, has to say: “You saw what happened to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah when the people disobeyed Me. I brought disaster upon them because of their wickedness, and now the cities are in ruins and no one dares to live there. The people infuriated Me when they burned incense and worshiped other so-called gods that neither they nor you nor any of your ancestors ever knew. 4 Time after time I would send My servants, the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, stop doing these disgusting things. You know I hate them!’ 5 Still they refused to listen and ignored what I had to say; they refused to abandon their wicked ways and kept burning incense to other gods. 6 Therefore, My hot anger was poured out; it raged and burned its way through the towns and villages of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they are a desolate wasteland today.”
7 And now the Eternal God, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, asks: “Why are you doing this to yourselves again? Why are you bringing further disaster upon yourselves and all your people? For there will be no man or woman, no infant or child who will survive this onslaught and return to Judah from this place. 8 Why do you stir up My anger with your handmade idols and the incense you burn to the gods here in the land of Egypt where you are determined to live? You will destroy yourselves and become objects of scorn and cursing to the nations of the earth. 9 Have you forgotten the evil committed by your ancestors, the kings of Judah and their wives? What about the evil that you and your wives committed throughout the land of Judah and on every street in Jerusalem? 10 To this day, I’ve seen no evidence of sorrow or regret for what has been done by My people. They have shown no reverence for Me, nor have they obeyed My law and the decrees I set before them and their ancestors.”
11 Therefore, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, now declares: “Look! I have decided to destroy you and bring disaster on all of Judah. 12 I will wipe out the remnant of Judah who were so determined to make a new start and settle in Egypt despite My command, and I will finish it there. They will all die in Egypt, from the least to the greatest, either from war or famine. I will make them a horror, a disgrace, an object of scorn and cursing. 13 I will punish those living in Egypt with war, famine, and disease, just as I punished unfaithful Jerusalem. 14 None of those who made it out of Judah alive and fled to Egypt will survive. None of them will escape what is coming. None of them—except for a few fugitives—will ever return to the land of Judah for which they long.
15 All the men who were aware that their wives had been burning incense to other gods gathered in a large crowd, along with the women. They had come from the northern cities of Egypt and the region of Pathros to the south to speak with Jeremiah.
People: 16 We will not listen to you or the message you claim comes from the Eternal! 17 We are going to stand by our own word: we will burn incense and pour out our drink offerings to the queen of heaven[a] just as we have always done—just as our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Back then we had plenty to eat, and no harm came to us. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out our drink offerings to her, we’ve not had enough of anything. Besides that, we are being finished off by war and famine.
Women (to Jeremiah): 19 Do you think our husbands didn’t know and approve of the fact that we were burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her? How could we have baked bread marked with her image and poured out offerings to her and our husbands know nothing of this?
20 Then Jeremiah addressed all these men and women who responded so rebelliously.
Jeremiah: 21 Do you think while you and your ancestors, your kings and officials, and all the rest of the people were burning incense in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that the Eternal knew nothing of this? Did you think He would forget or that it would somehow slip His mind? 22 Today, your land is an object of cursing, a horror, a lifeless ruin because the Eternal could no longer stand your wickedness and the detestable things you did. 23 Take a good look at the disaster that has come upon you. It happened because you burned incense to other gods and sinned against the Eternal. It happened because you refused to obey His voice or follow His law and His decrees, because you ignored His warnings.
24 (to the entire assembly) Hear the word of the Eternal! You people of Judah who live in Egypt, 25 the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, has a message for you: “You and your wives have shown where your true devotion lies with both your words and your actions! You say, ‘We will keep our vows to the queen of heaven; we will continue to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to her.’ Well I say, ‘Go ahead. Keep your vows! Do exactly what you promised!’” 26 But hear what the Eternal now says to the Judeans now living in Egypt: “I swear by My great name that no man or woman of Judah now living in Egypt will ever again invoke My name or begin an oath with the words ‘As the Eternal Lord lives!’ 27 because I will watch over their lives to bring harm, not good. All the Judeans living in Egypt will suffer from war and famine until all have died. 28 There will be only a few who survive and return to Judah from Egypt. All the remnant of Judah who were so determined to live in Egypt will finally know whose word can be trusted—theirs or Mine. 29 Here is a sign for you so that you will know I am going to punish you in Egypt. This way you can be sure that My threats against you are not idle—they will come true. 30 And this will be your sign: watch as I hand over Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, to his enemies who want to kill him, just as I handed over Zedekiah, king of Judah, to his enemy, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
Footnotes
- 44:17 Likely a reference to Ishtar, a fertility goddess.
Jeremiah 44
King James Version
44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
7 Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 They are not humbled even unto 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 thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
13 For I will punish them that 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, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.
15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.
17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto 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 had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not into his mind?
22 So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
25 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
26 Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord God liveth.
27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or their's.
29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
30 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.