Jeremiah 44
1 The word that was maad to Jeremye, and to alle the Jewis, that dwelliden in the lond of Egipt, dwellinge in Magdalo, and in Taphnys, and in Memphis, and in the lond of Phatures,
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 seide, The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Ye sien al this yuel, which Y brouyte on Jerusalem, and on alle the citees of Juda; and lo! tho ben forsakun to dai, and no dwellere is in tho;
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 for the malice which thei diden, to terre me to wrathfulnesse, and that thei yeden, and maden sacrifice, and worschipiden alien goddis, whiche thei knewen not, bothe ye, and thei, and youre fadris.
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 And Y sente to you alle my seruauntis profetis; and Y roos bi nyyte, and sente, and seide, Nyle ye do the word of sich abhomynacioun.
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 thei herden not, nether bowiden doun her eere, that thei schulen be conuertid fro her yuels, and schulden not make sacrifice to alien goddis.
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 myn indignacioun and my strong veniaunce is wellid togidere, and is kindlid in the citees of Juda, and in the stretis of Jerusalem; and tho ben turned in to wildirnesse, and wastnesse, bi this dai.
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 And now the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Whi doon ye this greet yuel ayens youre soulis, that a man of you perische and a womman a litil child and soukynge perische, fro the myddis of Juda, nether ony residue thing be left in you,
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 that terre me to wraththe bi the werkis of youre hondis, in makynge sacrifice to alien goddis in the lond of Egipt, in to which ye entriden, that ye dwelle there, and that ye perische, and be in to cursyng, and in to schenschipe to alle the folkis of erthe?
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 Whether ye han foryete the yuels of youre fadris, and the yuels of the kingis of Juda, and the yuels of her wiues, and youre yuels, and the yuels of youre wyues, whiche thei diden in the lond of Juda, and in the cuntreis of Jerusalem?
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 Thei ben not clensid `til to this dai, and thei dredden not, and thei yeden not in the lawe of the Lord, and in myn heestis, whiche Y yaf bifore you, and bifore youre fadris.
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 Therfor the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal sette my face in you in to yuel,
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 and Y schal leese al Juda, and Y schal take the remenauntis of Juda, that settiden her faces, to go in to the lond of Egipt, and to dwelle there; and alle schulen be waastid in the lond of Egipt, thei schulen falle doun bi swerd, and schulen be wastid in hungur, fro the leeste `til to the mooste, thei schulen die bi swerd and hungur, and schulen be in to swering, and in to myracle, and in to cursyng, and in to schenschipe.
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 Y schal visite on the dwelleris of Egipt, as Y visitide on Jerusalem, in swerd, and in hungur, and in pestilence.
I'm going to punish you who live in Egypt like I punished Jerusalem, by war and famine and disease.
14 And noon schal be, that schal ascape, and be residue of the remenauntis of Jewis, that goen to be pilgrimys in the lond of Egipt, and to turne ayen to the lond of Juda, to which thei reisen her soulis, that thei turne ayen, and dwelle there; thei schulen not turne ayen thidir, no but thei that fledden.
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 Forsothe alle men answeriden to Jeremye, and wisten, that her wyues maden sacrifice to alien goddis, and alle wymmen, of whiche a greet multitude stood, and alle the puple of dwelleris in the lond of Egipt, in Fatures, and seiden,
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 We schulen not here of thee the word which thou spekist to vs in the name of oure Lord God,
“Even though you say this message is from the Lord, we're not going to listen to you”
17 but we doynge schulen do ech word that schal go out of oure mouth, that we make sacrifice to the queen of heuene, and that we offre to it moist sacrifices, as we diden, and oure fadris, oure kingis, and oure princes, in the citees of Juda, and in the stretis of Jerusalem; and we weren fillid with looues, and it was wel to vs, and we sien noon yuel.
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 But fro that tyme, in which we ceessiden to make sacrifice to the queen of heuene, and to offre to it moist sacrifices, we hadden nede to alle thingis, and we weren wastid bi swerd and hungur.
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 That if we maken sacrifice to the queen of heuene, and offren to it moist sacrifices, whether withouten oure hosebondis we maden to it cakis, to worschipe it, and looues to be offrid?
“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 And Jeremye seide to al the puple, ayens the men, and ayens the wymmen, and ayens al the puple, that answeriden to hym the word, and he seide,
Jeremiah replied to all the people, both men and women, who were responding to him,
21 Whether not the sacrifice which ye sacrifisiden in the citees of Juda, and in the stretis of Jerusalem, ye, and youre fadris, youre kyngis, and youre princes, and the puple of the lond, terriden God to veniaunce? The Lord hadde mynde on these thingis, and it stiede on his herte;
“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?
22 and the Lord myyte no more bere, for the malice of youre studies, and for abhomynaciouns whiche ye diden. And youre lond is maad in to desolacioun, and in to wondryng, and in to curs, for no dwellere is, as this dai is.
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.
23 Therfor for ye maden sacrifice to idols, and synneden to the Lord, and herden not the vois of the Lord, and yeden not in the lawe, and in the comandementis, and in the witnessis of hym, therfor these yuels bifellen to you, as this dai is.
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.”
24 Forsothe Jeremye seide to al the puple, and to alle the wymmen, Al Juda, that ben in the lond of Egipt, here ye the word of the Lord.
Then Jeremiah told everyone, including all the women, “Listen to the Lord's message, all you people from Judah living here in Egypt.
25 The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, and spekith, Ye and youre wyues spaken with youre mouth, and filliden with youre hondis, and seiden, Make we oure vowis whiche we vowiden, that we make sacrifice to the queen of heuene, and offre to it moist sacrifices; ye filliden youre vowis, and diden tho in werk.
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!
26 Therfor, al Juda, that dwellen in the lond of Egipt, here ye the word of the Lord; Lo! Y swoor in my greet name, seith the Lord, that my name schal no more be clepid bi the mouth of ech man Jew, seiynge, The Lord God lyueth, in al the lond of Egipt.
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.’
27 Lo! Y schal wake on hem in to yuel, and not in to good; and alle the men of Juda, that ben in the lond of Egipt, schulen be waastid, bi swerd and hungur, til thei be wastid outerli.
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.
28 And a fewe men that fledden the swerd, schulen turne ayen fro the lond of Egipt in to the lond of Juda; and alle the remenauntis of Juda, of hem that entren in to the lond of Egipt, to dwelle there, schulen wite, whos word schal be fillid, myn ether hern.
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!
29 And this schal be a signe to you, seith the Lord, that Y schal visite on you in this place, that ye wite, that verili my wordis schulen be fillid ayens you in to yuel.
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.
30 The Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal bitake Farao, the kyng of Egipt, in to the hond of hise enemyes, and in to the hond of hem that seken his lijf, as Y bitook Sedechie, the kyng of Juda, in to the hond of Nabugodonosor, kyng of Babiloyne, his enemye, and sekynge his lijf.
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.”
