Jeremiah 44

1 The word that came to Jeremias, concerning all the Jews that dwelt in the land of Egypt, dwelling in Magdal, and in Taphnis, and in Memphis, and in the land of Phatures, saying:

And Sedekias the son of Josias reigned instead of Joakim, whom Nabuchodonosor appointed to reign over Juda.

2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: You have seen all this evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Juda: and behold they are desolate this day, and there is not an inhabitant in them:

And he and his servants and the people of the land hearkened not to the words of the Lord, which he spoke by Jeremias.

3 Because of the wickedness which they have committed, to provoke me to wrath, and to go and offer sacrifice, and worship other gods, which neither they, nor you, nor your fathers knew.

And king Sedekias sent Joachal son of Selemias and Sophonias the priest son of Maasaeas to Jeremias, saying, Pray now for us to the Lord.

4 And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending, and saying: Do not commit this abominable thing, which I hate.

Now Jeremias came and went through the midst of the city: for they [had] not put him into the house of the prison.

5 But they heard not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their evil ways, and not to sacrifice to strange gods.

And the host of Pharao was come forth out of Egypt; and the Chaldeans heard the report of them, and they went up from Jerusalem.

6 Wherefore my indignation and my fury was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and they are turned to desolation and waste, as at this day.

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,

7 And now thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against your own souls, that there should die of you man and woman, child and suckling out of the midst of Juda, and no remnant should be left you:

Thus said the Lord; Thus shalt thou say to the king of Juda who sent to thee, to seek me; Behold, the army of Pharao which is come forth to help you: they shall return to the land of Egypt:

8 In that you provoke me to wrath with the works of your hands, by sacrificing to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you are come to dwell there: and that you should perish, and be a curse, and a reproach to all the nations of the earth?

and the Chaldeans themselves shall turn again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.

9 Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Juda, and the evils of their wives, and your evils, and the evils of your wives, that they have done in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

For thus saith the Lord; Suppose not in your hearts, saying, The Chaldeans will certainly depart from us: for they shall not depart.

10 They are not cleansed even to this day: neither have they feared, nor walked in the law of the Lord, nor in my commandments, which I set before you and your fathers.

And though ye should smite the whole host of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should be left a few wounded [men], these should rise up each in his place, and burn this city with fire.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will set my face upon you for evil: and I will destroy all Juda.

And it came to pass, when the host of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem for fear of the host of Pharao,

12 And I will take the remnant of Juda that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, and to dwell there: and they shall be all consumed in the land of Egypt: they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine: and they shall be consumed from the least even to the greatest, by the sword, and by the famine shall they die: and they shall be for an execration, and for a wonder, and for a curse, and for a reproach.

that Jeremias went forth from Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to buy thence [a property] in the midst of the people.

13 And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.

And he was in the gate of Benjamin, and [there was] there a man with whom he lodged, Saruia the son of Selemias, the son of Ananias; and he caught Jeremias, saying, Thou art fleeing to the Chaldeans.

14 And there shall be none that shall escape, and remain of the remnant of the Jews that are gone to sojourn in the land of Egypt: and that shall return into the land of Juda, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: there shall none return but they that shall flee.

And he said, [It is] false; I do not flee to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him; and Saruia caught Jeremias, and brought him to the princes.

15 Then all the men that knew that their wives sacrificed to other gods: and all the women of whom there stood by a great multitude, and all the people of them that dwelt in the land of Egypt in Phatures, answered Jeremias, saying:

And the princes were very angry with Jeremias, and smote him, and sent him into the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made this a prison.

16 As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee:

So Jeremias came into the dungeon, and into the cells, and he remained there many days.

17 But we will certainly do every word that shall proceed out of our own mouth, to sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, our kings, and our princes in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil.

Then Sedekias sent, and called him; and the king asked him secretly, saying, Is there a word from the Lord? and he said, There is: thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.

18 But since we left off to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword, and by famine.

And Jeremias said to the king, Wherein have I wronged thee, or thy servants, or this people, that thou puttest me in prison?

19 And if we offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings to her: did we make cakes to worship her, to pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?

And where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against this land?

20 And Jeremias spoke to all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying:

Now therefore, my lord the king, let my supplication come before thy face: and why dost thou send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe? and let me not on any account die there.

21 Was it not the sacrifice that you offered in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and Sour fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, which the Lord hath remembered, and hath it not entered into his heart?

Then the king commanded, and they cast him into the prison, and gave him a loaf a day out of the place where they bake, until the bread failed out of the city. So Jeremias continued in the court of the prison.

22 So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed: therefore your land is become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

23 Because you have sacrificed to idols, and have sinned against the Lord: and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have not walked in his law, and in his commandments, and in his testimonies: therefore are these evils come upon you, as at this day.

24 And Jeremias said to all the people, and to all the women: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all Juda, you that dwell in the land of Egypt:

25 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have spoken with your mouth, and fulfilled with your hands, saying: Let us perform our vows which we have made, to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her: you have fulfilled your vows, and have performed them indeed.

26 Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Juda, you that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord: that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Juda, in the land of Egypt, saying: The Lord God liveth.

27 Behold I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Juda that are in the land of Egypt, shall be consumed, by the sword, and by famine, till there be an end of them.

28 And a few men that shall flee from the sword, shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Juda: and all the remnant of Juda that are gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

29 And this shall be a sign to you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place: that you may know that my words shall be accomplished indeed against you for evil.

30 Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver Pharao Ephree king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life: as I delivered Sedecias king of Juda into the hand of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon his enemy, and that sought his life.