Jeremiah
Jeremiah 44 ©
1 Jeremiah, having shewn the desolation which had befallen Judah for idolatry, reproveth the Jews in Egypt for persisting therein, 11 and prophesieth their destruction. 15 Their inflexible obstinacy. 20 Jeremiah threateneth them with severe judgments, 29 and for a sign foretelleth the ruin of the king of Egypt.
THE aword that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at bMigdol, and at cTahpanhes, and at dNoph, and in the country of ePathros, saying,
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 fthey are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; mWherefore commit ye this great evil against nyour souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, 1out of Judah, oto leave you none to remain;
In that pye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye qmight be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
Have ye forgotten rthe 2wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of stheir 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?
And wI 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 xleast even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and ythey shall be an *execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
For I will 4punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are zgone into the land of Egypt to *sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they 5have a desire to return to dwell there: afor none shall return but such as shall bescape.
¶Then call the men which 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 dPathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing fgoeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the 6queen 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 ghad we plenty of 7*victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
And 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, without our 8men?
¶Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
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, hdid not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
So that the LORD icould no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land ja desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
Because kye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor lwalked in his law, nor min his statutes, nor nin his testimonies; therefore othis evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives rhave 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 unto her: ye will surely saccomplish 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, tI have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that umy 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.
xYet 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, ythat are gone into the land of Egypt to *sojourn there, shall know zwhose words shall stand, 9mine, or theirs.
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, bI will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; cas I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.