Jeremiah 44

1 The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews that dwelt in the land of Egypt, that dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the land of Pathros, saying:

2 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye have seen all the evil which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein;

3 because of their wickedness, which they have committed, to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve strange gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers;

4 and I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying: O do not this abominable thing, which I hate!

5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to strange gods.

6 Therefore hath my fury been poured forth, and mine anger, and hath burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are become a desolation and a waste at this day.

7 And now thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Wherefore do ye commit this great evil against your own souls, that ye may cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, so as to leave yourselves no remnant?

8 Why do ye provoke me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to strange gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are gone to dwell, so that ye may cut yourselves off, and that ye may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 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 They have not been humbled even to 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 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.

12 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; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; by the sword and by famine shall they be consumed, from the least to the greatest; by the sword and by famine shall they die; and they shall become an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

14 And none shall escape or remain of the remnant of Judah which are gone into the land of Egypt, to sojourn there, and to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return, to dwell there; for none shall return but a few fugitives that escape.

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to strange gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, and in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:

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

17 But whatever hath gone forth from our mouth, that will we do, 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 bread, and were prosperous, and saw no calamity.

18 But from the time we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, we have been in want of all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.

19 And when we [[said the women]] burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we without the knowledge of our men make cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings to her?”

20 Then spake Jeremiah to all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying:

21 “The incense which 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 Jehovah remember it, and came it not into his mind?

22 And Jehovah could no longer bear the evil of your doings, and the abominations which ye committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant at this day.

23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his ordinances, therefore is this evil come upon you, at this day.”

24 And Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, Hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah, that are in the land of Egypt!

25 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye and your wives speak with your mouths, and fulfill with your hands; ye say, “We will keep our vows, which 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; ye will surely perform your vows.

26 Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, that dwell in the land of Egypt! Behold, I swear 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!”

27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there be an end of them.

28 And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine or theirs.

29 And this shall be a sign to you, saith Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil.

30 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah, the king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, his enemy, that sought his life.”