Jeremiah 44

1 This is the message that came to Jeremiah regarding all the people of Judah living in Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis—and in Upper Egypt.

2 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the complete disaster that I brought down on Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. You can see how today they're ruined and abandoned

3 because of the evil they did. They made me angry by burning incense and serving other gods that they hadn't ever known, and you and your forefathers hadn't known either.

4 I sent you all my servants the prophets time and again to warn you: “Don't do these offensive things that I hate.”

5 But you refused to listen or to pay attention. You didn't stop their wickedness or burning incense in worship of other gods.

6 That's why my furious anger poured out and set fire to the towns of Judah and burned in the streets of Jerusalem, making them the abandoned ruins they still are today.

7 So this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why are you hurting yourselves so badly by removing from Judah every man, woman, child, infant, so you don't have anyone left?

8 Why are you making me angry by what you do, burning incense to other gods in Egypt where you have come to live? Because if this you will be destroyed, and will you will become a curse word, an expression of condemnation among all the nations on earth.

9 Have you forgotten the evil of your forefathers and the evil of the kings of Judah and the evil of their wives, as well as your own evil and the evil your wives, all practiced in the country of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 Even up to now you haven't shown any remorse or reverence. You haven't followed my rules and regulations I gave you and your forefathers.

11 So this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster and to wipe out everyone from Judah.

12 I'm going to destroy you who are left who decided to go to Egypt to live there. You will die there, killed by the sword or by famine. Whoever you are, from the least to the most important, you're going to die by sword or by famine; and you will become a curse word, something horrible, an insult, an expression of condemnation.

13 I'm going to punish you who live in Egypt like I punished Jerusalem, by war and famine and disease.

14 Nobody who is left from Judah who has gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the country of Judah. You long to go back and live there, but nobody will return except a few stragglers.

15 All the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were there, a great crowd of people, those living in Egypt and Upper Egypt all told Jeremiah,

16 “Even though you say this message is from the Lord, we're not going to listen to you”

17 In fact we're going to do everything we said we would. We'll burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to worship her as we did before, just like our fathers, our kings, and our officials who did the same things in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Back then we had plenty of food and we were well off and nothing bad happened to us.

18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to worship her, we've lost everything and have been dying as a result of war and famine.

19 “On top of that,” the women added, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to worship her, did we do this without our husbands knowing about it, that we baked cakes stamped with her image and poured out drink offerings to worship her?”

20 Jeremiah replied to all the people, both men and women, who were responding to him,

21 “About that incense you burned to other gods in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, as well as your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the ordinary people—don't you think the Lord wouldn't remember and think about it?

22 The Lord couldn't take it anymore—the evil things you did and your disgusting acts—so your country was turned into an uninhabited wasteland, a place of horror and a curse word to others, as it still is today.

23 As you can see today, the disaster you've experienced happened because you burned incense to other gods and sinned against the Lord, refusing to listen to the Lord or to follow his instructions, his rules, and his regulations.”

24 Then Jeremiah told everyone, including all the women, “Listen to the Lord's message, all you people from Judah living here in Egypt.

25 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives, you've said what you're going to do, and you've done what you said! You said, ‘We're going to keep our promise to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to worship her.’ So go ahead! Do what you've said! Keep your promises!

26 But even so, listen to what the Lord says, all you people from Judah living here in Egypt: I guarantee by all that I am, says the Lord, that none of you living in the Egypt will ever use my name or swear, ‘As the Lord God lives.’

27 I will take care of them in the bad sense, and not in the good sense. All the people from Judah who are in Egypt will die by sword or famine, until they are wiped out.

28 Those who manage to avoid being killed by the sword will go back to Judah from Egypt. But there will only be a few of them, and then all who were left from Judah and went to live in Egypt will know who's telling the truth—me or them!

29 This is your sign to prove that I'm going to punish you here, declares the Lord, so that you'll know for certain that my threats against you will really happen.

30 This is what the Lord says: Look! I'm going to hand over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to his enemies who are trying to kill him, in the same way that I handed over Zedekiah king of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who was trying to kill him.”