Jeremiah 44:15-30

New American Standard Bible

¹⁵ Then ^(A)all the men who were aware that their wives were burning ^[a]sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, ^[b]including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, ¹⁶ “As for the ^[c](B)message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^(C)we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ But we will certainly ^(D)carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, ^[d]by burning ^[e]sacrifices to the ^(E)queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ^(F)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 ^(G)plenty of ^[f]food and were well off and saw no ^[g]misfortune. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning ^[h]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ^(H)lacked everything, and have met our end by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹ “And,” said the women, “when we were ^(I)burning ^[i]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and ^[j]pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ^(J)without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes ^[k]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 ^[l](K)smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the ^(L)streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land, did the Lord not ^(M)remember them, and did all of this not come into His ^[m]mind? ²² So the Lord was ^(N)no longer able to endure it, ^(O)because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; so your land has become a ^(P)place of ruins, an object of horror, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ Since you have burned ^[n]sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and ^(Q)not obeyed the voice of the Lord nor ^(R)walked in His Law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this ^(S)disaster has happened to you, as it has this day.”

²⁴ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “^(T)Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are ^(U)in the land of Egypt! ²⁵ This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel ^[o]says: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^(V)certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn ^[p]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ^(W)By all means fulfill your vows, and be sure to perform your vows!’ ^26 [q]In return, hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have ^(X)sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name shall ^(Y)never be invoked again by the mouth of anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “^(Z)As the Lord ^[r]God lives.” ²⁷ Behold, I am watching over them ^(AA)for harm and not for good, and ^(AB)all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ^[s]meet their end by the sword or by famine until they ^[t]are completely gone. ^28 (AC)Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ^[u](AD)few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know ^(AE)whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. ²⁹ And this will be the ^(AF)sign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^(AG)My words will assuredly stand against you for harm.’ ³⁰ This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand ^(AH)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who seek his life, just as I handed ^(AI)Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”