The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 44 Threats against the Jews who fled to Egypt

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 44

Threats against the Jews who fled to Egypt

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who dwelt in Migdol, and in Tahpanhes, and in Noph, and in the land of Pathros, saying:

2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold, they are today a desolation, and no one dwells in them;

3 Because of their wickedness which they committed, to provoke me to anger, going to burn incense and serve other gods, which neither they nor you nor your fathers have known.

4 Therefore I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying: “Do not do this abominable thing that I hate.”

5 But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to not burn incense to strange gods.

6 Therefore my indignation and my anger were poured out, and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a wasteland, as it is this day.

7 Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you do such great evil against yourselves, to cut off man and woman, child and nursing child, from the midst of Judah, so that you leave no remnant there?

8 Provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to strange gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to sojourn, so that you may cut off yourselves, and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 They have not humbled themselves to this day, nor have they feared, nor have they walked in my law, nor in my statutes, which I set before you and before your fathers.

11 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I set my face against you for evil, and to uproot all Judah.

12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, who set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there; and they shall all be consumed in the land of Egypt; they shall fall by the sword, and die of famine; they shall be consumed, from the least to the greatest; They shall die by the sword and by famine; they shall be an object of execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13 For I will visit those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I visited Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence.

14 So that none shall escape, none shall remain of the remnant of Judah, which went into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, to return to the land of Judah, to which it was their soul's desire to return and dwell there; but none shall return except those who escape.

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood in a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:

16 As for the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not obey you;

17 But we will certainly do everything we promised: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, just as we, our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.

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 famine.

19 And when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her to worship her and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands?

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women, and to all the people who had given him this answer, saying:

21 “Did the Lord not remember, and did it not come into his heart, the incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, as well as the people of the land?

22 Therefore the Lord could no longer bear the evil of your deeds, the abominations that you committed; therefore your land became a desolate waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitants, as it is this day.

23 Because you burned incense, and because you sinned against the Lord, and did not obey the voice of the Lord, and did not walk in his law and in his testimonies, therefore this evil has befallen you, as it is this day.”

24 Jeremiah also said to all the people and to all the women: “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt.

25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have not only spoken with your mouths, but have also acted with your hands, saying, “We will surely perform our vows which we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.” You have perfectly confirmed your vows and perfectly performed them.

26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I swear by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no more be pronounced by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives!”

27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil and not for good; and every male of Judah who is in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until they are utterly destroyed. 

28 And those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number, and all the remnant of Judah, who went into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, will know whether my word or theirs will stand.

29 And this will be a sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, so that you may know that my words against you will surely stand for evil.

30 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I delivered Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, his enemy, who sought his life.