< Jeremiah 44 >

1 [This is] the message that Yahweh gave me concerning the Jews who were living in [northern] Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpenes, and Memphis [cities], and in the Pathros [region in southern Egypt]:
And Sedekias the son of Josias reigned instead of Joakim, whom Nabuchodonosor appointed to reign over Juda.
2 “This is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [you] Israelis [say you belong to], say: ‘You saw the disaster that I caused [the people in] Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah to experience. Those towns are now ruined and deserted.
And he and his servants and the people of the land listened not to the words of the Lord, which he spoke by Jeremias.
3 [That happened] because I was extremely angry with them on account of their being very wicked. They burned incense to other gods and worshiped them. They were gods that you [previously] did not know about, and your ancestors also [did not know about them].
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.
4 Many times I sent my prophets who served me, to say to them, “Do not do those abominable things that I hate!”
Now Jeremias came and went through the midst of the city: for they [had] not put him into the house of the prison.
5 But my people would not pay any attention [DOU] [to what I said to them]. They would not turn away from their wicked behavior, or stop burning incense to [worship/honor] other gods.
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.
6 So I poured out my anger [MTY] on them. I punished people on the streets of Jerusalem and on the [other] towns in Judah. It caused those towns to be ruined and deserted, and they are still like that.’
And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
7 So now [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [you] Israelis [say you belong to], ask you: ‘Why are you causing yourselves to experience these disasters? [Do you not realize that because of what you are doing], soon there will be no more men or women or children or infants left among you [who have come here to Egypt] from Judah?
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:
8 Why are you [RHQ] provoking me and causing me to be very angry by burning incense to the idols that you have made here in Egypt? [If you continue doing this, ] you will destroy yourselves, and you will cause yourselves to be people whom all the nations on the earth will curse and despise.
and the Chaldeans themselves shall turn again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
9 Have you forgotten [how I punished] your ancestors for the wicked things that they did, and [how I punished] the kings and queens of Judah for what they did, and you and your wives for the sins that you committed in the streets of Jerusalem and [the other towns] in Judah?
For thus says the Lord; Suppose not in your hearts, saying, The Chaldeans will certainly depart from us: for they shall not depart.
10 Up until this day you have not humbled yourselves or revered me. You have not obeyed the laws and decrees [DOU] that I gave to you and your ancestors.’
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.
11 Therefore, this is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [you] Israelis [say you belong to], say: ‘I am determined to cause all of you to experience disasters and to get rid of every one of you.
And it came to pass, when the host of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem for fear of the host of Pharao,
12 [You] people from Judah who have survived were determined to come and live here in Egypt. So I will get rid of all of you here in Egypt. Every one of you will die, including those who are important and those who are not important. [Some of] you will be killed by [your enemies’] swords, [some will die] from famines. You will become [people whom others] curse, be horrified about, and make fun of.
that Jeremias went forth from Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to buy thence [a property] in the midst of the people.
13 I will punish you here in Egypt like I punished [others in] Jerusalem, [some of whom were killed] by [their enemies’] swords and [some of whom] died from famines or diseases.
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.
14 You people who did not die in Judah fled here to Egypt, hoping that [some day] you would return to Judah. But very few [HYP] of you will survive and escape. You are longing/wanting to remain alive and return to Judah, but only a very few of you will escape and be able to do that.’”
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.
15 Then a large group of the people who had started to live in northern Egypt and southern Egypt, including all the men who knew that their wives had been burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, said this to me:
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.
16 “You are saying that [MTY] Yahweh gave messages to you, but we will not pay any attention to your messages!
So Jeremias came into the dungeon, and into the cells, and he remained there many days.
17 We will certainly do everything that we said that we would do. We will burn incense to [worship our goddess Astarte, ] the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out offerings [of wine] to her, just like we and our ancestors and our kings and [their] officials have [always] done in the streets of Jerusalem and in the [other] towns in Judah. At that time, we had plenty of food, and we were prosperous and we did not have any troubles.
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.
18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and giving her offerings [of wine], we have had many troubles, and [some of our people] have been killed by [our enemies’] swords and [some have died] from hunger.”
And Jeremias said to the king, Wherein have I wronged you, or your servants, or this people, that you put me in prison?
19 And [the women said], “[Furthermore], we burned incense and poured out [wine] offerings to the Queen of Heaven, and we also made small cakes that resembled her idol, to offer to her. But our husbands certainly knew about [and approved of] [RHQ] what we were doing!”
And where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against this land?
20 Then I said to all the men and women who had answered me,
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.
21 “Do not think [RHQ] that Yahweh did not know that you and your ancestors and your kings and their officials and all the other people in Judah were burning incense to [worship/honor] idols in the streets of Jerusalem and in the [other] towns in Judah!
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.
22 It was because Yahweh could no longer endure/tolerate your wicked actions and the detestable things that you were doing that he caused your land to be [a place whose name people say when they] curse someone, a land that is ruined and which has no one living in it. And your land is still like that.
23 It is because you burned incense to [worship/honor] idols and committed [other] sins against Yahweh that you experienced [all] those disasters. It is because you have not obeyed him or his laws and decrees and commandments.”
24 [Then] I said to all of them, including the women, “All you [people of] Judah who are [here] in Egypt, listen to this message from Yahweh.
25 This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says [to you Israeli men]: ‘You and your wives have said that you would continue to do what you promised, to burn incense and pour out wine to the [goddess whom you call] the Queen of Heaven. [And you have proved by your actions that you intend to continue to do that]. So go ahead and continue doing what you have promised to do [for her].’
26 But now, all you people from Judah who are [now] living [here] in Egypt, listen to this message from Yahweh. He says, ‘I have solemnly declared, using my great name, that [soon] none of [you] people from Judah who are here in Egypt will ever again use my name. [There will be none of you who, when you solemnly promise to do something, ] will ever again say, “[I will do it as surely] as Yahweh lives.”
27 Because I will be watching over you, not to cause good things to happen to you but to cause things to happen that will harm you. [Almost] everyone [HYP] from Judah who is [now here] in Egypt will experience being [killed by their enemies’] swords, or dying from famine.
28 [Only a very] few [of you] will not die, and will return to Judah. [When that happens], all those who came to Egypt will find out whose words (were true/were fulfilled), theirs or mine.’
29 And Yahweh [also] says, ‘I will do something that will prove to you that everything that I have said will happen, and that I will punish you [here] in this place.
30 I will cause Hophra, the king of Egypt, to be captured by his enemies who want to kill him, just like I caused King Zedekiah of Judah to be captured by [the soldiers of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’” [And that is what happened several years later].

< Jeremiah 44 >