Jeremiah 44

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

2 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: 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

3 because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, that they knew not, neither they, nor ye, nor your fathers.

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

5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.

6 Therefore my wrath 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 it is this day.

7 Therefore now thus says Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do ye commit this great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining,

8 in that ye provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where ye have gone to sojourn, that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 Have 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 they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 They are not humbled even to this day. Neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.

11 Therefore thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even 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 sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall. They shall be consumed 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 an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, 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 pestilence,

14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there. For none shall return except such as shall escape.

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

16 As for the word that thou have spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken to thee.

17 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone forth out of our 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 left off burning incense to the queen of heaven, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed 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 her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,

21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings and your rulers, and the people of the land, did Jehovah not remember them, and did it not come into his mind?

22 So that Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies, therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is this day.

24 Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt:

25 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, 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 to her. Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.

26 Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says Jehovah, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the lord Jehovah lives.

27 Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there is an end of them.

28 And those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number. And all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

29 And this shall be the sign to you, says Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

30 Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will give 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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.