Jeremias 44
1 And Sedekias the son of Josias reigned instead of Joakim, whom Nabuchodonosor appointed to reign over Juda.
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 Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2 And he and his servants and the people of the land listened not to the words of the Lord, which he spoke by Jeremias.
Thus saith 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 they are, this day, a waste, and no man dwelleth therein,
3 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.
because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods which they knew not, they, [nor] ye, nor your fathers.
4 Now Jeremias came and went through the midst of the city: for they [had] not put him into the house of the prison.
And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate!
5 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.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
And my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are become a waste, a desolation, as at this day.
7 Thus said the Lord; Thus shall you say to the king of Juda who sent to you, to seek me; Behold, the army of Pharao which is come forth to help you: they shall return to the land of Egypt:
And now thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Wherefore commit ye great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remnant;
8 and the Chaldeans themselves shall turn again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are come to sojourn, that ye should be cut off, and that ye should be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9 For thus says the Lord; Suppose not in your hearts, saying, The Chaldeans will certainly depart from us: for they shall not depart.
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 have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 And though you should strike 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.
They are not humbled unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes which I set before you and before your fathers.
11 And it came to pass, when the host of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem for fear of the host of Pharao,
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12 that Jeremias went forth from Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to buy thence [a property] in the midst of the people.
And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to enter into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed: in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine, from the least even unto the greatest; they shall die by the sword and by the famine, and they shall be an execration, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
13 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, You are fleeing to the Chaldeans.
And I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;
14 And he said, [It is] false; I do not flee to the Chaldeans. But he listened not to him; and Saruia caught Jeremias, and brought him to the princes.
and none of the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah, whither they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.
15 And the princes were very angry with Jeremias, and struck him, and sent him into the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made this a prison.
Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assemblage, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
16 So Jeremias came into the dungeon, and into the cells, and he remained there many days.
[As for] the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee,
17 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: you shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.
but we will certainly do every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and we had plenty of bread, and were well, and saw no evil.
18 And Jeremias said to the king, Wherein have I wronged you, or your servants, or this people, that you put me in prison?
But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the heavens, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against this land?
And when we burned incense to the queen of the heavens and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make for her cakes to portray her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?
20 Now therefore, my lord the king, let my supplication come before your face: and why do you send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe? and let me not on any account die there.
And Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people that had given him that answer, saying,
21 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.
Is it not the incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings and your princes and the people of the land, that Jehovah remembered, and that came into his mind?
And Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations that ye had committed; and your land is become a waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day.
Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil hath come upon you, as at this day.
And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, We will certainly perform our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her. Ye will certainly establish your vows, and entirely perform your vows.
Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith 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 liveth.
Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, a very small company; and all the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs.
And this shall be the sign unto you, saith Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall certainly stand against you for evil:
thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
