Jeremias 44
1 And Sedekias the son of Josias reigned instead of Joakim, whom Nabuchodonosor appointed to reign over Juda.
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 And he and his servants and the people of the land listened not to the words of the Lord, which he spoke by Jeremias.
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 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 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 Now Jeremias came and went through the midst of the city: for they [had] not put him into the house of the prison.
I sent you all my servants the prophets time and again to warn you: “Don't do these offensive things that 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 you refused to listen or to pay attention. You didn't stop their wickedness or burning incense in worship of other gods.
6 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
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 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:
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 and the Chaldeans themselves shall turn again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
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 For thus says the Lord; Suppose not in your hearts, saying, The Chaldeans will certainly depart from us: for they shall not depart.
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 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.
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 And it came to pass, when the host of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem for fear of the host of Pharao,
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 that Jeremias went forth from Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to buy thence [a property] in the midst of the people.
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 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.
I'm going to punish you who live in Egypt like I punished Jerusalem, by war and famine and disease.
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.
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 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.
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 So Jeremias came into the dungeon, and into the cells, and he remained there many days.
“Even though you say this message is from the Lord, we're not going to listen to you”
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.
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 And Jeremias said to the king, Wherein have I wronged you, or your servants, or this people, that you put me in prison?
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 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against this land?
“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 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.
Jeremiah replied to all the people, both men and women, who were responding to him,
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.
“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?
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.
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.”
Then Jeremiah told everyone, including all the women, “Listen to the Lord's message, all you people from Judah living here in Egypt.
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!
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.’
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.
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!
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.
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.”
