Jeremiah 44
44
1The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Judahites who were living in Egypt, those living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in Upper Egypt: 2#Chronologically, these are the last of Jeremiah’s words to his people. As the narrative ends, Jeremiah meets with rejection. According to tradition, recorded in a much later work, he was murdered in Egypt by fellow Judahites. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You yourselves have seen all the evil I brought upon Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. Today they lie in ruins uninhabited,#Jer 34:22; Lv 26:32–33. 3because of the evil they did to provoke me, going after other gods, offering incense and serving other gods they did not know, neither they, nor you, nor your ancestors.#Jer 11:17; Dt 32:17. 4Though I repeatedly sent you all my servants the prophets, saying: “You must not commit this abominable deed I hate,” 5they did not listen or incline their ears in order to turn from their evil, no longer offering incense to other gods.#Jer 7:24, 26; 19:4. 6Therefore the fury of my anger poured forth and kindled fire in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, to turn them into the ruined wasteland they are today.
7Now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why inflict so great an evil upon yourselves, cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, not leaving yourselves even a remnant? 8Why do you provoke me with the works of your hands, offering sacrifice to other gods here in the land of Egypt where you have come to live? Will you cut yourselves off and become a curse, a reproach among all the nations of the earth?#Jer 25:6–7. 9Have you forgotten the evil of your ancestors, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their wives, and your own evil and the evil of your wives—all that they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?#1 Kgs 11:1, 8; Ezr 9:7, 14. 10To this day they have not been crushed down, nor have they shown fear. They have not followed my law and my statutes that I set before you and your ancestors.#Jer 7:24.
11Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have set my face against you for evil, to cut off all Judah. 12I will take away the remnant of Judah who insisted on going to the land of Egypt to live there; in the land of Egypt they shall meet their end. They shall fall by the sword or be consumed by hunger. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by sword or hunger; they shall become a malediction, a horror, a curse, a reproach.#Jer 42:15, 18, 22. 13Thus I will punish those who live in Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, with sword, hunger, and disease, 14so that none of the remnant of Judah who came to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive.#Jer 43:11. No one shall return to the land of Judah. Even though they long to return and live there, they shall not return except as refugees.
15They answered Jeremiah—all the men who knew that their wives were offering sacrifices to other gods, all the women standing there in the immense crowd, and all the people who lived in Lower and Upper Egypt: 16“Regarding the word you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not listening to you.#Jer 6:16–17. 17Rather we will go on doing what we proposed; we will offer incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out libations to her, just as we have done, along with our ancestors, our kings and princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty to eat, we prospered, and we suffered no misfortune.#Jer 5:3; 7:18. 18But ever since we stopped offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out libations to her, we lack everything and are being destroyed by sword and hunger.” 19And the women said, “When we offered sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and poured out libations to her, did we bake cakes in her image and pour out libations to her without our husbands’ consent?”#Jer 7:18.
20To all the people, men and women, who gave him this answer, Jeremiah said: 21As for the sacrifices you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your ancestors, your kings and princes, and the people of the land—did not the Lord remember them? Did it not enter his mind?#Jer 11:13. 22The Lord could no longer bear the evil of your deeds, the abominations you were doing; then your land became a waste, a horror, a curse, without even one inhabitant, as it is today.#Jer 15:6. 23Because you offered sacrifice and sinned against the Lord, not listening to the voice of the Lord, not following his law, his statutes, and his decrees, therefore this evil has overtaken you, as it is today.#2 Kgs 17:15; Dn 9:11–12.
24Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women: Hear the word of the Lord, all you Judahites in the land of Egypt: 25Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have carried out with your hands what your mouths have spoken: “We will go on fulfilling the vows we have made to offer sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out libations to her.” Very well! keep your vows, fulfill your vows! 26And then listen to the word of the Lord, all you Judahites living in Egypt; I swear by my own great name, says the Lord: in the whole land of Egypt, my name shall no longer be pronounced by the lips of any Judahite, saying, “As the Lord God lives.” 27I am watching over them for evil, not for good. All the Judahites in Egypt shall come to an end by sword or famine until they are completely destroyed.#Ezr 7:3–7. 28Those who escape the sword to return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah shall be few in number. The whole remnant of Judah who came to Egypt to live shall know whose word stands, mine or theirs.#Dt 28:62; Is 10:22.
29And this shall be a sign to you—oracle of the Lord—I will punish you in this place so that you will know that my words stand solidly against you for evil. 30Thus says the Lord: See! I will hand over Pharaoh Hophra,#Hophra: killed by his own people. Hophra’s successor, Amasis, ruled Egypt when Nebuchadnezzar took control of the country. king of Egypt, to his enemies, to those seeking his life, just as I handed over Zedekiah, king of Judah, to his enemy Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, to the one seeking his life.#Jer 39:5–7; 46:25–26; Ez 29:3–4; 30:21.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Jeremiah 44
44
A Message of Rebuke for the Rebellious Remnant
1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living at Migdol, and Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,#Literally “to say” 2“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the towns of Judah. And look, they are a site of ruins this day, and there is not in them an inhabitant, 3because of#Literally “from the face of” their wickedness that they committed to provoke me to anger by going to make smoke offerings, serving other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, or your ancestors.#Or “fathers” 4And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,#Literally “doing early and sending” saying,#Literally “to say” “Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate.” 5But they did not listen and they did not incline their ears#Hebrew “ear” to turn back from their wickedness, to not make smoke offerings to other gods. 6So my wrath and my anger were poured out#The Hebrew verb is singular and burned#The Hebrew verb is singular in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became as a site of ruins, as a desolation, as they are this day.’
7So then, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Why are you doing great harm to yourselves,#Literally “your lives” to cut off for yourselves man and woman, child and suckling, from the midst of Judah, to not leave over for yourselves a remnant, 8provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, to make smoke offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell as aliens, so as to cut off yourselves, and so that you are becoming as a curse, and as a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the wicked things of your ancestors,#Or “fathers” and the wicked things of the kings of Judah, and the wicked things of their wives, and your wicked things, and the wicked things of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They have not shown contrition up to this day, and they have not shown reverence, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set before you#Literally “to the face of you” and before#Literally “to the face of” your ancestors.’#Or “fathers”
11Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Look, I am determined to bring disaster on you,#Literally “I am setting my face against you for disaster” even to exterminate all Judah.12And I will take away the remnant of Judah who are determined#Literally “who set their faces” to come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from the smallest to the greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace. 13So I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. 14And there will not be a survivor or an escapee of the remnant of Judah, those who have come to dwell as an alien there in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Judah where they are longing#Literally “lifting up their soul” to return to dwell there, for they will not turn back, but only#Literally “but if” some survivors.’ ”
15Then all the men who knew that their wives were making smoke offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, and all the people who lived in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,#Literally “to say” 16“Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! 17But certainly we will do everything#Literally “all the word” that went out from our mouths,#Hebrew “mouth” to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors,#Or “fathers” our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for then we had enough to eat,#Literally “we satisfied ourselves with food” and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster. 18But since#Literally “from” we stopped making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have perished. 19And indeed, when we were making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out#Literally “to pour out” to her libations, was it not with the consent of#Literally “from apart from” our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes marked with her image,#Literally “to the copying of her” and we poured out to her libations?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who answered him a word, saying,#Literally “to say” 21“The offering that you made, smoke offerings in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your ancestors,#Or “fathers” your kings, and your officials, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh remember them, and did it not come to his mind?#Literally “heart” 22And Yahweh was no longer able to bear#Or “endure” it, because of#Literally “from the face of” the evil of your deeds, because of#Literally “from the face of” the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, without#Literally “from there is not” inhabitants, as it is this day. 23Because of#Literally “From the face of” the fact that you made smoke offerings, and that you sinned against Yahweh, and you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you have not walked in his law, and in his statute, and in his legal provisions, therefore#Literally “unto thus” this disaster has happened to you, as it is this day.”
24Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘You and your wives have promised with your mouths#Hebrew “mouth” and with your hands#Hebrew “hand” you have fulfilled, saying,#Literally “to say” “We certainly will carry out our vows that we vowed, to make smoke offerings to the queen of the heavens,#Hebrew “heaven” and to pour out to her libations.” You must certainly keep your vows and you must certainly carry out your vows.’ 26Therefore#Literally “To thus” hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah, those who live in the land of Egypt: ‘Look, I hereby swear by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘surely my name will no longer be called in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, “as the Lord Yahweh lives,”#Literally “the life of Lord Yahweh” in all the land of Egypt. 27Look, I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good, and all people#Or “men” of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by the famine until their perishing. 28And the survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number.#Literally “males of number” And all the remnant of Judah who have come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there will know whose word will endure, from me or from them. 29And this will be to you the sign,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that surely my words will endure against you for evil.’ 30Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I am going to give Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, his enemy and the one who sought his life.’ ”
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