Disaster Because of Idolatry

44 This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt(A)—in Migdol,(B) Tahpanhes(C) and Memphis(D)—and in Upper Egypt:(E) “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster(F) I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah.(G) Today they lie deserted and in ruins(H) because of the evil(I) they have done. They aroused my anger(J) by burning incense(K) to and worshiping other gods(L) that neither they nor you nor your ancestors(M) ever knew. Again and again(N) I sent my servants the prophets,(O) who said, ‘Do not do this detestable(P) thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or pay attention;(Q) they did not turn from their wickedness(R) or stop burning incense(S) to other gods.(T) Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out;(U) it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins(V) they are today.

“Now this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster(W) on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women,(X) the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant?(Y) Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made,(Z) burning incense(AA) to other gods in Egypt,(AB) where you have come to live?(AC) You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse[a] and an object of reproach(AD) among all the nations on earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your ancestors(AE) and by the kings(AF) and queens(AG) of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives(AH) in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?(AI) 10 To this day they have not humbled(AJ) themselves or shown reverence,(AK) nor have they followed my law(AL) and the decrees(AM) I set before you and your ancestors.(AN)

11 “Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty,(AO) the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster(AP) on you and to destroy all Judah. 12 I will take away the remnant(AQ) of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest,(AR) they will die by sword or famine.(AS) They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach.(AT) 13 I will punish(AU) those who live in Egypt with the sword,(AV) famine and plague,(AW) as I punished Jerusalem. 14 None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.”(AX)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:8 That is, your name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that you are cursed; also in verse 12; similarly in verse 22.

A Message of Rebuke for the Rebellious Remnant

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living at Migdol, and Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,[a] “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the towns of Judah. And look, they are a site of ruins this day, and there is not in them an inhabitant, because of[b] their wickedness that they committed to provoke me to anger by going to make smoke offerings, serving other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, or your ancestors.[c] And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,[d] saying,[e] “Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate.” But they did not listen and they did not incline their ears[f] to turn back from their wickedness, to not make smoke offerings to other gods. So my wrath and my anger were poured out[g] and burned[h] in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became as a site of ruins, as a desolation, as they are this day.’

So then, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Why are you doing great harm to yourselves,[i] to cut off for yourselves man and woman, child and suckling, from the midst of Judah, to not leave over for yourselves a remnant, provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, to make smoke offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell as aliens, so as to cut off yourselves, and so that you are becoming as a curse, and as a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the wicked things of your ancestors,[j] and the wicked things of the kings of Judah, and the wicked things of their wives, and your wicked things, and the wicked things of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not shown contrition up to this day, and they have not shown reverence, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set before you[k] and before[l] your ancestors.’[m]

11 Therefore[n] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Look, I am determined to bring disaster on you,[o] even to exterminate all Judah. 12 And I will take away the remnant of Judah who are determined[p] to come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from the smallest to the greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace. 13 So I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. 14 And there will not be a survivor or an escapee of the remnant of Judah, those who have come to dwell as an alien there in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Judah where they are longing[q] to return to dwell there, for they will not turn back, but only[r] some survivors.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:1 Literally “to say”
  2. Jeremiah 44:3 Literally “from the face of”
  3. Jeremiah 44:3 Or “fathers”
  4. Jeremiah 44:4 Literally “doing early and sending”
  5. Jeremiah 44:4 Literally “to say”
  6. Jeremiah 44:5 Hebrew “ear”
  7. Jeremiah 44:6 The Hebrew verb is singular
  8. Jeremiah 44:6 The Hebrew verb is singular
  9. Jeremiah 44:7 Literally “your lives”
  10. Jeremiah 44:9 Or “fathers”
  11. Jeremiah 44:10 Literally “to the face of you”
  12. Jeremiah 44:10 Literally “to the face of”
  13. Jeremiah 44:10 Or “fathers”
  14. Jeremiah 44:11 Literally “To thus”
  15. Jeremiah 44:11 Literally “I am setting my face against you for disaster”
  16. Jeremiah 44:12 Literally “who set their faces”
  17. Jeremiah 44:14 Literally “lifting up their soul”
  18. Jeremiah 44:14 Literally “but if”