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 dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell 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 the LORD 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 dwelleth in them.
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, [and] to serve other gods, whom they knew not, [neither] they, 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.
Yet I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending [them], saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing 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 they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.
6 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
Wherefore my fury 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 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:
Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Why do ye commit [this] great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
8 and the Chaldeans themselves shall turn again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
In that ye provoke me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are gone to dwell, that ye may cut yourselves off, and that ye may 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 [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 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 the LORD 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 go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, [and] fall in the land of Egypt; they shall [even] 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 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.
For 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.
So that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt, to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to which 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 had burned incense to other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, 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 to us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken to 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 whatever thing proceedeth from our own 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 princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for [then] we had plenty of provisions, 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 ceased to burn incense 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 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 heaven, and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make for her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our men?
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.
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who 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.
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, did not the LORD remember them, and came it [not] into his mind?
So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil hath happened to you, as at this day.
Moreover, Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that [are] in the land of Egypt:
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, 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: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah 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 Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD 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 shall be an end of them.
Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
And this [shall be] a sign to you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
Thus saith the LORD; 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.
