Jeremiah 44-48
English Standard Version
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, 2 “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, 3 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. 4 (H)Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 (I)But they did not listen (J)or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 (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. 7 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? 8 (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? 9 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.”
Message to Baruch
45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to (BS)Baruch the son of Neriah, (BT)when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, (BU)in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, (BV)‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. (BW)I am weary with my groaning, (BX)and I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: (BY)Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5 And (BZ)do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, (CA)I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you (CB)your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”
Judgment on Egypt
46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet (CC)concerning the nations.
2 About Egypt. (CD)Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in (CE)the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3 (CF)“Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance for battle!
4 (CG)Harness the horses;
mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
(CH)polish your spears,
put on your armor!
5 Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
and have turned backward.
Their (CI)warriors are beaten down
and have fled in haste;
(CJ)they look not back—
(CK)terror on every side!
declares the Lord.
6 “The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
(CL)in the north by the river Euphrates
(CM)they have stumbled and fallen.
7 “Who is this, (CN)rising like the Nile,
like rivers (CO)whose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers (CP)whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
9 (CQ)Advance, O horses,
and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
men of Cush and (CR)Put who handle the shield,
(CS)men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10 (CT)That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
(CU)a day of vengeance,
(CV)to avenge himself on his foes.
(CW)The sword shall devour and be sated
and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds (CX)a sacrifice
(CY)in the north country (CZ)by the river Euphrates.
11 (DA)Go up to Gilead, and take (DB)balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
(DC)there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
(DD)for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
they have both fallen together.”
13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of (DE)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in (DF)Migdol;
proclaim in (DG)Memphis and (DH)Tahpanhes;
say, (DI)‘Stand ready and be prepared,
for (DJ)the sword shall devour around you.’
15 Why are your mighty ones face down?
They do not stand[c]
because the Lord thrust them down.
16 He made many stumble, (DK)and they fell,
and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
(DL)because of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 Call the name of (DM)Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’
18 (DN)“As I live, declares the King,
(DO)whose name is the Lord of hosts,
like (DP)Tabor among the mountains
and like (DQ)Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
19 (DR)Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
O (DS)inhabitants of Egypt!
For (DT)Memphis shall become a waste,
a ruin, (DU)without inhabitant.
20 “A beautiful (DV)heifer is Egypt,
but a biting fly (DW)from the north has come upon her.
21 Even her hired soldiers in her midst
are like (DX)fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
(DY)the time of their punishment.
22 “She makes (DZ)a sound like a serpent gliding away;
for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
(EA)like those who fell trees.
23 (EB)They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
though it is impenetrable,
because (EC)they are more numerous than locusts;
they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
she shall be delivered into the hand of (ED)a people from the north.”
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon (EE)Amon of (EF)Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt (EG)and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 (EH)I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. (EI)Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited (EJ)as in the days of old, declares the Lord.
27 (EK)“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
28 (EL)Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
(EM)I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”
Judgment on the Philistines
47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet (EN)concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down (EO)Gaza.
2 “Thus says the Lord:
(EP)Behold, waters are rising (EQ)out of the north,
(ER)and shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow (ES)the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
(ET)at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers (EU)look not back to their children,
so feeble are their hands,
4 because of the day that is coming to destroy
all (EV)the Philistines,
to cut off from (EW)Tyre and Sidon
every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
(EX)the remnant of the coastland of (EY)Caphtor.
5 (EZ)Baldness has come upon Gaza;
(FA)Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
(FB)how long will you gash yourselves?
6 (FC)Ah, sword of the Lord!
How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
rest and be still!
7 How can it[d] be quiet
(FD)when the Lord has given it a charge?
Against (FE)Ashkelon and against the seashore
(FF)he has appointed it.”
Judgment on Moab
48 (FG)Concerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to (FH)Nebo, for it is laid waste!
(FI)Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame (FJ)and broken down;
2 the renown of Moab is no more.
In (FK)Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off (FL)from being a nation!’
You also, O (FM)Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3 “A voice! A cry from (FN)Horonaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5 (FO)For at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;[e]
for (FP)at the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressed cry[f] of destruction.
6 Flee! Save yourselves!
You will be like (FQ)a juniper in the desert!
7 For, (FR)because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and (FS)Chemosh (FT)shall go into exile
with (FU)his priests and his officials.
8 (FV)The destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and (FW)the plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9 “Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.
10 (FX)“Cursed is he who does (FY)the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has (FZ)settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his[g] jars in pieces. 13 Then (GA)Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as (GB)the house of Israel was ashamed of (GC)Bethel, their confidence.
14 “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15 The destroyer of (GD)Moab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have (GE)gone down to slaughter,
declares (GF)the King, (GG)whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 (GH)Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
and all who know his name;
say, (GI)‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18 (GJ)“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of (GK)Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 (GL)Stand by the way (GM)and watch,
O inhabitant of (GN)Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
(GO)wail and cry!
Tell it beside (GP)the Arnon,
that (GQ)Moab is laid waste.
21 “Judgment has come upon (GR)the tableland, upon Holon, and (GS)Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and (GT)Dibon, and (GU)Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and (GV)Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and (GW)Beth-meon, 24 and (GX)Kerioth, and (GY)Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 (GZ)The horn of Moab is cut off, and (HA)his arm is broken, declares the Lord.
26 (HB)“Make him drunk, (HC)because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall (HD)wallow in his vomit, (HE)and he too shall be held in derision. 27 (HF)Was not Israel a derision to you? (HG)Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him (HH)you wagged your head?
28 (HI)“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be (HJ)like the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 (HK)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
(HL)his boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31 (HM)Therefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of (HN)Kir-hareseth I mourn.
32 More than for (HO)Jazer I weep for you,
(HP)O vine of (HQ)Sibmah!
(HR)Your branches passed over the sea,
reached to the Sea of (HS)Jazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
the destroyer has fallen.
33 (HT)Gladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34 (HU)“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to (HV)Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35 And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in (HW)the high place and makes offerings to his god. 36 Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of (HX)Kir-hareseth. (HY)Therefore the riches they gained have perished.
37 (HZ)“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. (IA)On all the hands are gashes, and (IB)around the waist is sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like (IC)a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39 How it is broken! How they wail! (ID)How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab (IE)has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”
40 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (IF)one shall fly swiftly like an eagle
(IG)and spread his wings against Moab;
41 (IH)the cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
(II)The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of (IJ)a woman in her birth pains;
42 Moab shall be (IK)destroyed and be no longer a people,
because (IL)he magnified himself against the Lord.
43 (IM)Terror, pit, and snare
are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
44 He who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
(IN)For I will bring these things upon Moab,
the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed (IO)the forehead of Moab,
the crown of (IP)the sons of tumult.
46 (IQ)Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of (IR)Chemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 (IS)Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 44:9 Hebrew his
- Jeremiah 44:19 Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said
- Jeremiah 46:15 Hebrew He does not stand
- Jeremiah 47:7 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew you
- Jeremiah 48:5 Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping
- Jeremiah 48:5 Septuagint (compare Isaiah 15:5) heard the cry
- Jeremiah 48:12 Septuagint, Aquila; Hebrew their
Hebrews 6
English Standard Version
6 Therefore (A)let us leave (B)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance (C)from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of (D)instruction about washings,[a] (E)the laying on of hands, (F)the resurrection of the dead, and (G)eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do (H)if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those (I)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted (J)the heavenly gift, and (K)have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and (L)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and (M)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since (N)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For (O)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But (P)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, (Q)and its end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For (R)God is not unjust so as to overlook (S)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in (T)serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance (U)of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but (V)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The Certainty of God's Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, (W)he swore by himself, 14 saying, (X)“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,[b] (Y)having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes (Z)an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to (AA)the heirs of the promise (AB)the unchangeable character of his purpose, (AC)he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which (AD)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope (AE)set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into (AF)the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone (AG)as a forerunner on our behalf, (AH)having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 6:2 Or baptisms (that is, cleansing rites)
- Hebrews 6:15 Greek he
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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