Jeremiah 44

1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans living in the land of Egypt, those living in Migdol and in Tahpanhes and in Noph and in the land of Pathros, saying,

2Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah. And behold, they are a ruin this day, and there is no one living in them.

3because of their evil that they did to provoke me to anger, by going to burn incense and to serve other gods, whom they had not known—they, you, and your fathers.

4Yet I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, 'Please do not do this abominable thing that I hate.'

5But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their evil, so as not to make offerings to other gods.

6So my wrath and my anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a ruin and a desolation, as they are this day.

7And now, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why are you doing this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from among Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves no remnant?

8provoking me to anger by the works of your hands, by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are going to sojourn, so that you may cut yourselves off and so that you may become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth.

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

10They have not been humbled to this day, and they have not feared, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

11Therefore, this is what Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I am setting my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah.

12And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all come to an end in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword and by famine; from the least even to the greatest, they will come to an end. By the sword and by famine they will die, and they will become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a reproach.

13And I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence.

14So there will be no fugitive or survivor for the remnant of Judah who are coming to sojourn there in the land of Egypt and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are lifting up their soul to return and dwell there; for they will not return, except for fugitives.

15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were standing by—a great assembly—and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

16As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you.

17But we will certainly do every word that has gone out from our mouth: to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; then we had plenty of bread, prospered, and saw no disaster.

18But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been consumed by the sword and by famine.

19And when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands that we made cakes for her, to depict her, and poured out drink offerings to her?

20Then Jeremiah said to all the people—to the men, to the women, and to all the people who were answering him, saying,

21Was it not the incense that you burned 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—that Yahweh remembered, and it came up upon his heart?

22And Yahweh could no longer bear it because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations that you committed. So your land became a ruin, a desolation, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

23Because you burned incense and sinned against Yahweh, and did not listen to the voice of Yahweh or walk in his law, his statutes, and his testimonies, therefore this disaster has come upon 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 the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely carry out our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, confirm your vows and carry out your vows.

26Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says Yahweh, that my name shall no longer be called upon by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord GOD lives.’

27Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will come to an end by the sword and by famine, until they are consumed.

28And a few survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah who came to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.

29And this will be the sign for you, declares Yahweh, that I am punishing you in this place, so that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm.

30Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am giving Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those seeking his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy and the one seeking his life.