Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, Azariah the son of (A)Hoshaiah and (B)Johanan the son of Kareah and (C)all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, (D)‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ but (E)Baruch the son of Neriah (F)has set you against us, (G)to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” So (H)Johanan the son of Kareah and all (I)the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took (J)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— (K)the men, the women, the children, (L)the princesses, and every person whom (M)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with (N)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at (O)Tahpanhes.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in (P)Tahpanhes: “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in (Q)Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, (R)my servant, (S)and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come (T)and strike the land of Egypt, (U)giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 (V)I shall kindle a fire (W)in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them (X)and carry them away captive. (Y)And he shall clean the land of Egypt (Z)as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the (AA)obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, (AB)and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Judgment for Idolatry

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at (AC)Migdol, at (AD)Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of (AE)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 (AF)they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the evil that they committed, (AG)provoking me to anger, (AH)in that they went to make offerings (AI)and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. (AJ)Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ (AK)But they did not listen (AL)or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. (AM)Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, (AN)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 (AO)against yourselves, to cut off from you (AP)man and woman, (AQ)infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? (AR)Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, (AS)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 (AT)a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, (AU)the evil of the kings of Judah, (AV)the evil of their[a] wives, your own evil, (AW)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, (AX)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: (AY)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 (AZ)set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. (BA)In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine (BB)they shall be consumed. (BC)From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, (BD)and they shall become an oath, a horror, (BE)a curse, and a taunt. 13 (BF)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 (BG)so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive (BH)or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, (BI)except some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that (BJ)their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in (BK)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, (BL)we will not listen to you. 17 (BM)But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to (BN)the queen of heaven (BO)and pour out drink offerings to her, (BP)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 (BQ)the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything (BR)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 (BS)and poured out drink offerings to her, was it (BT)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, (BU)men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 (BV)“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, (BW)did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 (BX)The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and (BY)the abominations that you committed. (BZ)Therefore your land has become (CA)a desolation and a waste and a curse, (CB)without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings (CC)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 (CD)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, (CE)all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (CF)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, (CG)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, (CH)all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: (CI)Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, (CJ)that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, (CK)saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 (CL)Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. (CM)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 (CN)And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, (CO)few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, (CP)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 (CQ)my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give (CR)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies (CS)and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave (CT)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 (CU)Baruch the son of Neriah, (CV)when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, (CW)in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: You said, (CX)‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. (CY)I am weary with my groaning, (CZ)and I find no rest.’ Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: (DA)Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. And (DB)do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, (DC)I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you (DD)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 (DE)concerning the nations.

About Egypt. (DF)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 (DG)the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

(DH)“Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!
(DI)Harness the horses;
    mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
    (DJ)polish your spears,
    put on your armor!
Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
    and have turned backward.
Their (DK)warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste;
(DL)they look not back—
    (DM)terror on every side!
declares the Lord.

“The swift cannot flee away,
    nor the warrior escape;
(DN)in the north by the river Euphrates
    (DO)they have stumbled and fallen.

“Who is this, (DP)rising like the Nile,
    like rivers (DQ)whose waters surge?
Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers (DR)whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
(DS)Advance, O horses,
    and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
    men of Cush and (DT)Put who handle the shield,
    (DU)men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10 (DV)That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    (DW)a day of vengeance,
    (DX)to avenge himself on his foes.
(DY)The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds (DZ)a sacrifice
    (EA)in the north country (EB)by the river Euphrates.
11 (EC)Go up to Gilead, and take (ED)balm,
    O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
    (EE)there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
    and the earth is full of your cry;
(EF)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 (EG)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in (EH)Migdol;
    proclaim in (EI)Memphis and (EJ)Tahpanhes;
say, (EK)‘Stand ready and be prepared,
    for (EL)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, (EM)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,
    (EN)because of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 Call the name of (EO)Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
    ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

18 (EP)“As I live, declares the King,
    (EQ)whose name is the Lord of hosts,
like (ER)Tabor among the mountains
    and like (ES)Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
19 (ET)Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
    O (EU)inhabitants of Egypt!
For (EV)Memphis shall become a waste,
    a ruin, (EW)without inhabitant.

20 “A beautiful (EX)heifer is Egypt,
    but a biting fly (EY)from the north has come upon her.
21 Even her hired soldiers in her midst
    are like (EZ)fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
    they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
    (FA)the time of their punishment.

22 “She makes (FB)a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    (FC)like those who fell trees.
23 (FD)They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
    though it is impenetrable,
because (FE)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 (FF)a people from the north.”

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon (FG)Amon of (FH)Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt (FI)and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 (FJ)I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. (FK)Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited (FL)as in the days of old, declares the Lord.

27 (FM)“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 (FN)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.
(FO)I will discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:9 Hebrew his
  2. Jeremiah 44:19 Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said
  3. Jeremiah 46:15 Hebrew He does not stand

16 (A)Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from (B)Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
Like fleeing birds,
    like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at (C)the fords of the Arnon.

“Give counsel;
    grant justice;
(D)make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
    do not reveal the fugitive;
let (E)the outcasts of Moab
    sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them[a]
    from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
(F)then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
    and on it will sit in faithfulness
    in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
    and is swift to do righteousness.”

(G)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    how proud he is!—
(H)of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    in his idle boasting he is not right.
Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
    (I)let everyone wail.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the (J)raisin cakes of (K)Kir-hareseth.

For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and (L)the vine of Sibmah;
the lords of the nations
    have struck down its branches,
which reached to Jazer
    and strayed to the desert;
its shoots spread abroad
    and passed over the sea.
Therefore (M)I weep with (N)the weeping of Jazer
    for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for over (O)your summer fruit and your harvest
    the shout has ceased.
10 (P)And joy and gladness are taken away from (Q)the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no (R)songs are sung,
    no cheers are raised;
no (S)treader treads out wine (T)in the presses;
    I have put an end to the shouting.
11 Therefore (U)my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
    and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

12 And when Moab presents himself, when (V)he wearies himself on (W)the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

13 This is the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab (X)in the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “In three years, (Y)like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be (Z)very few and feeble.”

An Oracle Concerning Damascus

17 An (AA)oracle concerning (AB)Damascus.

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
    and will become a heap of ruins.
The cities of (AC)Aroer are deserted;
    they will be for flocks,
    which will lie down, and (AD)none will make them afraid.
The fortress will disappear from (AE)Ephraim,
    and the kingdom from (AF)Damascus;
and the remnant of Syria will be
    like (AG)the glory of the children of Israel,
declares the Lord of hosts.

And in that day (AH)the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
    and (AI)the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
And it shall be (AJ)as when the reaper gathers standing grain
    and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
    in (AK)the Valley of Rephaim.
(AL)Gleanings will be left in it,
    as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
    in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
    on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel.

(AM)In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. (AN)He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the (AO)Asherim or the altars of incense.

(AP)In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

10 For (AQ)you have forgotten the God of your salvation
    and have not remembered the (AR)Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
    and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
11 though you make them grow[b] on the day that you plant them,
    and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away[c]
    in a day of grief and incurable pain.

12 Ah, (AS)the thunder of many peoples;
    they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations;
    they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13 (AT)The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
    (AU)but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased (AV)like chaff on the mountains before the wind
    and (AW)whirling dust before the storm.
14 (AX)At evening time, behold, terror!
    Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    and the lot of those who plunder us.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 16:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them
  2. Isaiah 17:11 Or though you carefully fence them
  3. Isaiah 17:11 Or will be a heap

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