Jeremiah 44

1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who live in the land of Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

2. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. And, behold, today they are a desolation, and no one lives there,

3. Because of their evil which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods whom they knew not, they, you, nor your fathers.

4. But I sent to you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate!”

5. But they did not hearken, nor incline their ear to turn from their evil, and burn no incense to other gods.

6. Therefore My fury and My anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they are wasted, desolate as at this day.’

7. Therefore now thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Why do you commit this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and babe, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;

8. In that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live, that you might cut yourselves off and that you might be 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 have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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

11. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

12. And I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there; and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be destroyed by the sword and by the famine. They shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be a curse, a wonder, and a shame, and a reproach.

13. For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague,

14. So that none of the remnant of Judah who has gone into the land of Egypt to live there shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah to which they have a desire to return to live there. For none shall return except those who escape.’ ”

15. And all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great multitude, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah. And they said,

16. “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken to you.

17. But we will certainly do whatever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

18. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been devoured by the sword and by the famine.

19. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make our cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our men?”

20. And Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer:

21. “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, your kings, and your rulers, and the people of the land; did not the LORD remember them? Did it not come into His mind?

22. Yea, so that the LORD could no longer hold back because of the evil of your doings because of the abominations which you have committed! So your land is a desolation, and a wonder, and a curse, without anyone in it, as it is today.

23. Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in His law, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies, therefore this evil has happened to you, as at this day.”

24. And Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, “Hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah that is in the land of Egypt.

25. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, “We will surely fulfill our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her.” You will surely fulfil your vows and surely carry out your vows.’

26. Therefore hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah that lives in the land of Egypt. ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that My name will no more be named in 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 all the men of Judah in the land of Egypt shall be destroyed by the sword and by the famine, until there is an end of them.

28. Yet the small number that escapes the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah (who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there) shall know whose word shall stand, Mine or theirs.

29. And this shall be the sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place so that you may know that My words shall surely stand against you for evil.’

30. Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am giving Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy that sought his life.’ ”