Jeremiah 44
1The 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 Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; You have seen all the destruction that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them,
3Because 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, nor you, nor your fathers.
4Yet I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
5But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6Therefore 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.
7Therefore now thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Why commit you this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
8In that you provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to dwell, that you might cut yourselves off, and that you might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9Have you 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?
10They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
11Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will set my face against you for a catastrophe, and to cut off all Judah.
12And 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 unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
13For 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:
14So 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 those that shall escape.
15Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto 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,
16As for the word that you have spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto you.
17But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto 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 had we plenty of food, and were well-off, and saw no evil.
18But since we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, apart from our husbands?
20Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,
21The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, 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?
22So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day.
23Because you have burned incense, and because you 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 has happened unto you, as it is this day.
24Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
25Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying;
You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, 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 unto her: you will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
26Therefore hear you the word of the LORD,
All Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name,
says 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 lives.
27Behold, I will watch over them for harm, 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 is an end of them.
28Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, 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.
29And this shall be a sign unto you,
says the LORD,
that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for harm:
30Thus says 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
Commentaries for Jeremiah 44:0