Jeremiah 42-44
New International Version
42 Then all the army officers, including Johanan(A) son of Kareah and Jezaniah[a] son of Hoshaiah,(B) and all the people from the least to the greatest(C) approached 2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray(D) to the Lord your God for this entire remnant.(E) For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few(F) are left. 3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”(G)
4 “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray(H) to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell(I) you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.”(J)
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true(K) and faithful(L) witness(M) against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well(N) with us, for we will obey(O) the Lord our God.”
7 Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers(P) who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.(Q) 9 He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition,(R) says:(S) 10 ‘If you stay in this land,(T) I will build(U) you up and not tear you down; I will plant(V) you and not uproot you,(W) for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you.(X) 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,(Y) whom you now fear.(Z) Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save(AA) you and deliver you from his hands.(AB) 12 I will show you compassion(AC) so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’(AD)
13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey(AE) the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt,(AF) where we will not see war or hear the trumpet(AG) or be hungry for bread,’(AH) 15 then hear the word of the Lord,(AI) you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16 then the sword(AJ) you fear(AK) will overtake you there, and the famine(AL) you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.(AM) 17 Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague;(AN) not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ 18 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath(AO) have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,(AP) so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse[b](AQ) and an object of horror,(AR) a curse[c] and an object of reproach;(AS) you will never see this place again.’(AT)
19 “Remnant(AU) of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’(AV) Be sure of this: I warn you today 20 that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’(AW) 21 I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you.(AX) 22 So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine(AY) and plague(AZ) in the place where you want to go to settle.”(BA)
43 When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God—everything the Lord had sent him to tell them(BB)— 2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah(BC) and Johanan(BD) son of Kareah and all the arrogant(BE) men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying!(BF) The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’(BG) 3 But Baruch(BH) son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians,[d] so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”(BI)
4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people(BJ) disobeyed the Lord’s command(BK) to stay in the land of Judah.(BL) 5 Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.(BM) 6 They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women,(BN) the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch(BO) son of Neriah along with them. 7 So they entered Egypt(BP) in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes.(BQ)
8 In Tahpanhes(BR) the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 9 “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones(BS) with you and bury them in clay in the brick(BT) pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace(BU) in Tahpanhes. 10 Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant(BV) Nebuchadnezzar(BW) king of Babylon, and I will set his throne(BX) over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy(BY) above them. 11 He will come and attack Egypt,(BZ) bringing death(CA) to those destined(CB) for death, captivity to those destined for captivity,(CC) and the sword to those destined for the sword.(CD) 12 He will set fire(CE) to the temples(CF) of the gods(CG) of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.(CH) As a shepherd picks(CI) his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. 13 There in the temple of the sun[e](CJ) in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars(CK) and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”
Disaster Because of Idolatry
44 This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt(CL)—in Migdol,(CM) Tahpanhes(CN) and Memphis(CO)—and in Upper Egypt:(CP) 2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster(CQ) I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah.(CR) Today they lie deserted and in ruins(CS) 3 because of the evil(CT) they have done. They aroused my anger(CU) by burning incense(CV) to and worshiping other gods(CW) that neither they nor you nor your ancestors(CX) ever knew. 4 Again and again(CY) I sent my servants the prophets,(CZ) who said, ‘Do not do this detestable(DA) thing that I hate!’ 5 But they did not listen or pay attention;(DB) they did not turn from their wickedness(DC) or stop burning incense(DD) to other gods.(DE) 6 Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out;(DF) it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins(DG) they are today.
7 “Now this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster(DH) on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women,(DI) the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant?(DJ) 8 Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made,(DK) burning incense(DL) to other gods in Egypt,(DM) where you have come to live?(DN) You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse[f] and an object of reproach(DO) among all the nations on earth. 9 Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your ancestors(DP) and by the kings(DQ) and queens(DR) of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives(DS) in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?(DT) 10 To this day they have not humbled(DU) themselves or shown reverence,(DV) nor have they followed my law(DW) and the decrees(DX) I set before you and your ancestors.(DY)
11 “Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty,(DZ) the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster(EA) on you and to destroy all Judah. 12 I will take away the remnant(EB) 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,(EC) they will die by sword or famine.(ED) They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach.(EE) 13 I will punish(EF) those who live in Egypt with the sword,(EG) famine and plague,(EH) 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.”(EI)
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives(EJ) were burning incense(EK) to other gods, along with all the women(EL) who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt,(EM) said to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen(EN) to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!(EO) 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would:(EP) We will burn incense(EQ) to the Queen of Heaven(ER) and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials(ES) did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.(ET) At that time we had plenty of food(EU) and were well off and suffered no harm.(EV) 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings(EW) to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.(EX)”
19 The women added, “When we burned incense(EY) to the Queen of Heaven(EZ) and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands(FA) know that we were making cakes(FB) impressed with her image(FC) and pouring out drink offerings to her?”
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, 21 “Did not the Lord remember(FD) and call to mind the incense(FE) burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem(FF) by you and your ancestors,(FG) your kings and your officials and the people of the land?(FH) 22 When the Lord could no longer endure(FI) your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became a curse(FJ) and a desolate waste(FK) without inhabitants, as it is today.(FL) 23 Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed him or followed(FM) his law or his decrees(FN) or his stipulations, this disaster(FO) has come upon you, as you now see.”(FP)
24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women,(FQ) “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah in Egypt.(FR) 25 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives(FS) have done what you said you would do when you promised, ‘We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.’(FT)
“Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows!(FU) 26 But hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt:(FV) ‘I swear(FW) by my great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, “As surely as the Sovereign(FX) Lord lives.”(FY) 27 For I am watching(FZ) over them for harm,(GA) not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish(GB) by sword and famine(GC) until they are all destroyed.(GD) 28 Those who escape the sword(GE) and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few.(GF) Then the whole remnant(GG) of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand(GH)—mine or theirs.(GI)
29 “‘This will be the sign(GJ) to you that I will punish(GK) you in this place,’ declares the Lord, ‘so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.’(GL) 30 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am going to deliver Pharaoh(GM) Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who want to kill him, just as I gave Zedekiah(GN) king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who wanted to kill him.’”(GO)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 42:1 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also 43:2) Azariah
- Jeremiah 42:18 That is, your name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that you are cursed.
- Jeremiah 42:18 That is, your name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that you are cursed.
- Jeremiah 43:3 Or Chaldeans
- Jeremiah 43:13 Or in Heliopolis
- 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.
Ezekiel 33:21-33
New International Version
Jerusalem’s Fall Explained
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped(A) from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!(B)” 22 Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me,(C) and he opened my mouth(D) before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.(E)
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, the people living in those ruins(F) in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many;(G) surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’(H) 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat(I) meat with the blood(J) still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land?(K) 26 You rely on your sword, you do detestable things,(L) and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife.(M) Should you then possess the land?’
27 “Say this to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague.(N) 28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains(O) of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them.(P) 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate(Q) waste because of all the detestable things they have done.’(R)
30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before(S) you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy(T) for unjust gain.(U) 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs(V) with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.(W)
33 “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.(X)”
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