Jeremiah 44
44
Jeremiah 44
1¶ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwelt in the land of Egypt, which dwelt at Migdol and at Tahpanhes and at Noph and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2Thus hath the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,
3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
4Howbeit I sent unto you all my slaves the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
5But they did not hearken, nor incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6Therefore my fury and my anger was poured forth and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
7Therefore now thus hath the Lord, the God of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Why do ye commit this great evil against your souls, that ye be cut off, man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah. Why do ye not desire to have a remnant?
8In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, where ye are gone to dwell. Why do ye cut yourselves off that ye might be a curse and a reproach to all the Gentiles of the earth?
9Have ye 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 was committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10They are not broken even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my rights, that I set before you and before your fathers.
11Therefore thus hath the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil and to cut off all Judah.
12And I will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be for an oath and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach.
13For I will visit those that dwell in the land of Egypt as I visited Jerusalem with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence:
14so that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall escape or remain alive to return into the land of Judah, unto which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but some fugitives.
15¶ Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.
17But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth to burn incense unto the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
18But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have lacked all things and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
20¶ Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,
21The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them and did it not come into his mind?
22So that the Lord could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation and an astonishment and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
23Because ye have burned incense and because ye have sinned against the Lord and have not listened to the voice of the Lord nor walked in his law nor in his rights, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has come upon you, as at this day.
24Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
25Thus hath spoken the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel, saying: Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her; ye will surely accomplish your vows and surely perform your vows.
26Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, said the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD lives.
27Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine until there is an end of them.
28Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, so that all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
29And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will visit you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
30thus hath the Lord said: Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those that seek his soul; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his soul.
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Jeremiah 44: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Jeremiah 44
44
The LORD's Message to the Israelites in Egypt
1The LORD spoke to me concerning all the Israelites living in Egypt, in the cities of Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the southern part of the country. 2The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, said, “You yourselves have seen the destruction I brought on Jerusalem and all the other cities of Judah. Even now they are still in ruins, and no one lives in them 3because their people had done evil and had made me angry. They offered sacrifices to other gods and served gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors ever worshipped. 4I kept sending you my servants the prophets, who told you not to do this terrible thing that I hate. 5But you would not listen or pay any attention. You would not give up your evil practice of sacrificing to other gods. 6So I poured out my anger and fury on the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem, and I set them on fire. They were left in ruins and became a horrifying sight, as they are today.
7“And so I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, now ask why you are doing such an evil thing to yourselves. Do you want to bring destruction on men and women, children and babies, so that none of your people will be left? 8Why do you make me angry by worshipping idols and by sacrificing to other gods here in Egypt, where you have come to live? Are you doing this just to destroy yourselves, so that every nation on earth will treat you with scorn and use your name as a curse? 9Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their wives, and by you and your wives? 10But to this day you have not humbled yourselves. You have not honoured me or lived according to all the laws that I gave you and your ancestors.
11“So then, I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, will turn against you and destroy all Judah. 12As for the people of Judah who are left and are determined to go and live in Egypt, I will see to it that all of them are destroyed. All of them, great and small, will die in Egypt, either in war or of starvation. They will be a horrifying sight; people will treat them with scorn and use their name as a curse. 13I will punish those who live in Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem — with war, starvation, and disease. 14None of the people of Judah who are left and have come to Egypt to live will escape or survive. Not one of them will return to Judah, where they long to live once again. No one will return except a few refugees.”
15Then all the men who knew that their wives offered sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, including the Israelites who lived in southern Egypt — a large crowd in all — said to me, 16“We refuse to listen to what you have told us in the name of the LORD. 17We will do everything that we said we would. We will offer sacrifices to our goddess, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out wine offerings to her, just as we and our ancestors, our king and our leaders, used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food, we were prosperous, and had no troubles. 18But ever since we stopped sacrificing to the Queen of Heaven and stopped pouring out wine offerings to her, we have had nothing, and our people have died in war and of starvation.”
19And the women added, “When we baked cakes shaped like the Queen of Heaven, offered sacrifices to her, and poured out wine offerings to her, our husbands approved of what we were doing.”
20Then I said to all the men and the women who had answered me in this way, 21“As for the sacrifices which you and your ancestors, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land offered in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem — do you think that the LORD did not know about them or that he forgot them? 22This very day your land lies in ruins and no one lives in it. It has become a horrifying sight, and people use its name as a curse because the LORD could no longer endure your wicked and evil practices. 23This present disaster has come on you because you offered sacrifices to other gods and sinned against the LORD by not obeying all his commands.”
24-25I told all the people, especially the women, what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, was saying to the people of Judah living in Egypt: “Both you and your wives have made solemn promises to the Queen of Heaven. You promised that you would offer sacrifices to her and pour out wine offerings to her, and you have kept your promises. Very well, then! Keep your promises! Carry out your vows! 26But now listen to the vow that I, the LORD, have made in my mighty name to all you Israelites in Egypt: never again will I let any of you use my name to make a vow by saying, ‘I swear by the living Sovereign LORD!’ 27I will see to it that you will not prosper, but will be destroyed. All of you will die, either in war or of disease, until not one of you is left. 28But a few of you will escape death and return from Egypt to Judah. Then the survivors will know whose words have come true, mine or theirs. 29I, the LORD, will give you proof that I will punish you in this place and that my promise to bring destruction on you will come true. 30#2 Kgs 25.1–7I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to his enemies who want to kill him, just as I handed over King Zedekiah of Judah to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, who was his enemy and wanted to kill him.”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.