Jeremiah 44
44
The Lord Will Destroy the People of Judah
1The Lord told me to speak with the Jews who were living in the towns of Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis in northern Egypt, and also to those living in southern Egypt. He told me to tell them:
2I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel. You saw how I destroyed Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. They lie empty and in ruins today, 3because the people of Judah made me angry by worshiping gods that had never helped them or their ancestors.
4Time after time I sent my servants the prophets to tell the people of Judah how much I hated their disgusting sins. The prophets warned them to stop sinning, 5but they refused to listen and would not stop worshiping other gods. 6Finally, my anger struck like a raging flood, and today Jerusalem and the towns of Judah are nothing but empty ruins.
7Why do you now insist on heading for another disaster? A disaster that will destroy not only you, but also your children and babies. 8You have made me angry by worshiping idols and burning incense to other gods after you came here to Egypt. You will die such a disgusting death, that other nations will use the name of Judah as a curse word. 9When you were living in Jerusalem and Judah, you followed the example of your ancestors in doing evil things, just like your kings and queens. 10Even now, your pride keeps you from respecting me and obeying the laws and teachings I gave you and your ancestors.
11I, the Lord All-Powerful, have decided to wipe you out with disasters. 12There were only a few of you left in Judah, and you decided to go to Egypt. But you will die such horrible deaths in war or from starvation, that people of other countries will use the name of Judah as a curse word. 13I punished Jerusalem with war, hunger, and disease, and that's how I will punish you. 14None of you will survive. You may hope to return to Judah someday, but only a very few of you will escape death and be able to go back.
The People Refuse To Worship the Lord
15A large number of Jews from both northern and southern Egypt listened to me as I told them what the Lord had said. Most of the men in the crowd knew that their wives often burned incense to other gods. So they and their wives shouted:
16Jeremiah, what do we care if you speak in the Lord's name? We refuse to listen! 17We have promised to worship the goddess Astarte, the Queen of Heaven,#44.17 the goddess Astarte, the Queen of Heaven: The Hebrew text has “the queen of heaven,” which probably refers to the goddess Astarte. and that is exactly what we are going to do. We will burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to her, just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did when we lived in Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah. We had plenty of food back then. We were well off, and nothing bad ever happened to us. 18But since the time we stopped burning incense and offering wine sacrifices to her, we have been dying from war and hunger.
19Then the women said, “When we lived in Judah, we worshiped the Queen of Heaven and offered sacrifices of wine and special loaves of bread shaped like her. Our husbands knew what we were doing, and they approved of it.”
20Then I told the crowd:
21Don't you think the Lord knew that you and your ancestors, your leaders and kings, and the rest of the people were burning incense to other gods in Jerusalem and everywhere else in Judah? 22And when he could no longer put up with your disgusting sins, he placed a curse on your land and turned it into a desert, as it is today. 23This disaster happened because you worshiped other gods and rebelled against the Lord by refusing to obey him or follow his laws and teachings.
24-25Then I told the men and their wives, that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:
Here in Egypt you still keep your promises to burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to the so-called Queen of Heaven. 26Keep these promises! But let me tell you what will happen. As surely as I am the Lord God, I swear that I will never again accept any promises you make in my name. 27Instead of watching over you, I will watch for chances to harm you. Some of you will die in war, and others will starve to death. 28Only a few will escape and return to Judah. Then everyone who went to live in Egypt will know that when I say something will happen, it will—no matter what you say.
29And here is how you will know that I will keep my threats to punish you in Egypt. 30#2 K 25.1-7. I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to those who want to kill him,#44.30 King Hophra … kill him: Hophra, also known as Apries, ruled Egypt from 589 to 570 b.c., when he was killed by Ahmosis II, who then became king of Egypt and ruled until 526 b.c. just as I handed Zedekiah#44.30 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3. over to Nebuchadnezzar,#44.30 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. who wanted to kill him.
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Jeremiah 44: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 44
44
Judgment for Idolatry
1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at #ch. 46:14; Ex. 14:2 Migdol, at #See ch. 43:7-9 Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of #ver. 15; See Isa. 11:11Pathros, 2“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 #ver. 6they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3because of the evil that they committed, #ver. 8; See ch. 7:18, 19 provoking me to anger, #See ch. 1:16 in that they went to make offerings #ch. 19:4; Deut. 6:14and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4#See 2 Chr. 36:15Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5#See ch. 34:14But they did not listen #See ch. 34:14or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6#See ch. 7:20 Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, #See ch. 7:34; 9:11and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil #Hab. 2:10; [Num. 16:38; Prov. 20:2] against yourselves, to cut off from you #[ch. 38:23; Lam. 2:11]man and woman, #[ch. 38:23; Lam. 2:11]infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8#[See ver. 3 above] Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, #[See ver. 3 above] 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 #ch. 42:18; See ch. 18:16a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, #[ch. 15:4] the evil of the kings of Judah, #1 Kgs. 11:1, 8; 15:13; 2 Kgs. 11:1 the evil of their#44:9 Hebrew his wives, your own evil, #ver. 15, 25and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They have not humbled themselves even to this day, #[Prov. 28:14]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: #See ch. 21:10Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12I will take the remnant of Judah who have #ch. 42:15 set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. #ch. 42:16 In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine #ch. 42:16 they shall be consumed. #See ch. 6:13 From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, #See ch. 18:16 and they shall become an oath, a horror, #[See ver. 8 above]a curse, and a taunt. 13#ch. 43:11I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14#ch. 42:17 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive #[ch. 22:27] or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, #[ver. 28]except some fugitives.”
15Then all the men who knew that #ver. 9, 25 their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in #See ver. 1Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, #ch. 6:16; 42:13we will not listen to you. 17#[Judg. 11:36] But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to #ch. 7:18 the queen of heaven #ch. 19:13 and pour out drink offerings to her, #[1 Kgs. 11:33; 2 Kgs. 21:3]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. 18But since we left off making offerings to #[See ver. 17 above] the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything #[Lam. 3:22]and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19And the women said,#44:19 Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven #ch. 7:18 and poured out drink offerings to her, was it #[Num. 30:6, 7]without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, #ch. 43:6men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21#ver. 17; [Ezek. 8:10, 11] “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, #[Ezek. 21:24]did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22#ch. 5:9, 29 The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and #Ezek. 8:6 the abominations that you committed. #See ch. 7:34 Therefore your land has become #See ch. 18:16 a desolation and a waste and a curse, #See ch. 4:7without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23It is because you made offerings #See ch. 40:3 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 #[Deut. 31:29]that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”
24Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, #ver. 15; See ch. 43:5-7all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: #ver. 16 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, #ver. 17to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26Therefore hear the word of the Lord, #[See ver. 24 above] all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: #See ch. 22:5 Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, #[Ezek. 20:39] that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, #[ch. 4:2]saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27#ch. 31:28 Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. #ch. 42:16All 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#[ver. 14; Isa. 27:13] And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, #Ezek. 6:8 few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, #ver. 17, 25, 26shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that #Prov. 19:21my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give #ch. 46:17; See Ezek. 29:2-5; 30:21-24 Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies #ch. 46:26 and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave #[ch. 39:5]Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”
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