Warning Against Flight to Egypt

42 Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached ² and said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Please, let our petition be presented before you, and pray to Adonai your God on our behalf,^[a] for all this remnant—for we who are left are but a few out of many, as you are seeing with your own eyes— ³ that Adonai your God may tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard you. Agreed: I will pray to Adonai your God according to your words, and it will be that every word Adonai will answer you, I will declare it to you—I will not keep a word from you.”

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah: “Let Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accord with every word that Adonai your God sends you to us. ⁶ Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of Adonai our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, when we obey the voice of Adonai our God.”

⁷ Now it was at the end of ten days that the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called Johanan son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will still stay in this land, then will I build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you. For I will relent concerning the calamity that I have done to you. ¹¹ Do not be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you dread—do not be afraid of him”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“for I am with you to save you, and deliver you from his hand. ¹² I will also show you compassion and he will have compassion on you, and restore you to your own soil. ¹³ But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ so that you do not obey the voice of Adonai your God, ¹⁴ saying: ‘No, instead we’ll go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war or hear the sound of a shofar or hunger for food, and live there’ ¹⁵ now therefore hear the word of Adonai, O remnant of Judah, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: If you really set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then it will come to pass that the sword, which you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine about which you are anxious will follow hard after you there in Egypt—and there you will die. ¹⁷ So will it be for all the people who set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there—they will die by the sword, by famine and by plague. So none of them will remain or escape from the calamity that I will bring on them.’”

¹⁸ For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “As My anger and My fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you, if you will enter Egypt. You will be an execration, a horror, a curse, and a disgrace, and you will never see this place again.”

¹⁹ Adonai has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah: “Do not go to Egypt. Know for sure that I have forewarned you this day! ²⁰ For you have led your own souls in error, since it was you who sent me to Adonai your God, saying: ‘Pray to Adonai our God on our behalf, and in accord with all that Adonai our God will say, so declare to us, and we will do it. ²¹ So I have this day declared it to you, but you will not obey the voice of Adonai your God in anything for which He has sent me to you. ²² Now therefore know for sure that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, in the place whither you desired to go to sojourn there.”

Chaldeans Invade Egypt

43 But when Jeremiah had made an end of telling all the people all the words of Adonai their God—all these words for which Adonai their God had sent him to them— ² then Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the insolent men responded, saying to Jeremiah: “You are telling a lie! Adonai our God has not sent you to say. ‘You must not go to Egypt to sojourn there.’ ³ Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us, to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they may put us to death or carry us away as captives to Babylon!”

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces and all the people, did not obey the voice of Adonai, to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven to dwell in the land of Judah— ⁶ the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, everyone that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah— ⁷ and they went to the land of Egypt. For they did not obey the voice of Adonai.

When they arrived at Tahpanhes ⁸ the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take some large stones in your hand and hide them in the mortar in the brickwork at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.

¹⁰ Then say to them, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to send for and bring King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I will set his throne over these stones where I have hid, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ¹¹ Yes, he will come, and will strike the land of Egypt.

Those for death—to death!

Those for exile—to exile!

Those for the sword—to the sword!

¹² “I will also set fire to the houses of Egypt’s gods. He will burn them and carry them off. He will wrap himself up with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself up with his garment. Then he will depart from there victoriously.

¹³ “He will also shatter the pillars of the temple of the sun^[b] in the land of Egypt, while houses of the gods of Egypt He will burn with fire.”

Calamity in Egypt

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph, and in the region of Pathros^[c], saying, ² thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “You have seen all the calamity that I brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a ruin, and no one lives in them, ³ because of their wickedness which they committed to provoke Me, by continuing to burn sacrifices for and serve other gods, whom they had not known—not they, nor you, nor your fathers. ⁴ Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them early and often, saying: ‘Oh, do not do this loathsome thing that I hate.’ ⁵ But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to stop making offering to other gods.

⁶ “Therefore My fury and Mine anger was poured out and blazed in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. So they are waste and a ruin, as it is today. ⁷ So now, thus says Adonai, Elohim-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Why are you committing this great evil against your own souls? You cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child, from the midst of Judah, to leave yourself without a remnant. ⁸ You are provoking Me with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have come to dwell, so that you will be cut off and become a curse and a disgrace among all the nations of the earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, the evils of the kings of Judah, the evils of their wives, and your own evils and the evils of your wives, which were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My Torah, My statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.”

¹¹ Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I will soon set My face against you for calamity, to cut off all Judah. ¹² I will take the remnant of Judah who set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all be consumed, falling in the land of Egypt by the sword and by famine. They will die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine, and they will be an execration, and a horror, a curse, and a disgrace.

¹³ So I will punish those dwelling in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by plague. ¹⁴ So none of the remnant of Judah entering the land of Egypt to sojourn there will escape or remain, to return to the land of Judah, when they are longing with their soul to return to live there; for none will return except as refugees.”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women that stood by—a large assembly—with all the people dwelling in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying: ¹⁶ “As for the word that you spoke to us in the Name of Adonai, we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ Instead we will definitely do every word as went out of our mouth—burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we did, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—for then we had plenty of food, were well off, and saw no calamity. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine. ¹⁹ Moreover, when we were burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, when we made cakes for her in her image and poured out drink offerings to her, were we without our husbands?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and the women, to all the people that were giving him such an answer, saying: ²¹ “The incense-burning that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—Adonai did remember them, they did come into His heart. ²² Then Adonai could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations that you committed! So your land has become a wasteland, a desolation and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ Because you have burned incense, because you have sinned against Adonai and have not listened to the voice of Adonai, nor walked in His Torah, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies—that is why this calamity has befallen you, as it is this day.”

Disciples from Generation to Generation

2 Therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Messiah Yeshua. ² And what you have heard from me among many witnesses, entrust to faithful people who will be capable to teach others also. ³ Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Messiah Yeshua. ⁴ No one serving as a soldier entangles himself in the activities of everyday life, so that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵ Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned victorious unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ The hard-working farmer ought to receive the first share of the crops. ⁷ Consider what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸ Remember Yeshua the Messiah, raised from the dead, from the seed of David—according to my Good News. ⁹ For this I suffer hardship as a criminal, even to the point of chains—though the word of God is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the chosen, so they might obtain the salvation that is in Messiah Yeshua with eternal glory.

¹¹ Trustworthy is the saying:

A Workman with the Word

¹⁴ Remind them of these things and solemnly charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which is useless—to the ruin of those who are listening. ¹⁵ Make every effort to present yourself before God as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth. ^{[a] 16} But avoid godless chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness ¹⁷ and their words will spread like cancer. Among them are Hymeneaus and Philetus— ¹⁸ men who have missed the mark concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place. They are overturning the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,”^[b] and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord keep away from unrighteousness.” ^{[c] 20} Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay—some for honor and some for common use. ²¹ Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor—sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

It Is Good to Praise

Psalm 92

Majestic and Unshakable

Psalm 93