Jer 44 | NASB1995 | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt , those who were living in Migdol , Tahpanhes , Memphis , and the land of Pathros , saying ,

Jeremiah 44

Conquest of Egypt Predicted

1 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in ^aMigdol, ^bTahpanhes, ^cMemphis, and the land of ^dPathros, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ^eruins and no one lives in them, 3 ^fbecause of their wickedness which they committed so as to ^gprovoke Me to anger by continuing to ^hburn ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices and to ^jserve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. 4 ‘Yet I ^ksent you all My servants the prophets, ^{▼▼ Lit rising early and sending}again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this ^mabominable thing which I hate.” 5 ‘But ⁿthey did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to other gods. 6 ‘Therefore My ^pwrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the ^qcities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a ^rdesolation as it is this day. 7 ‘Now then thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you ^sdoing great harm to yourselves, so as to ^tcut off from you man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, 8 ^uprovoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, ^vburning ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a ^xcurse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 “Have you forgotten the ^ywickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 “But they ^zhave not become ^{▼▼ Lit crushed}contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor ^abwalked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers.”’

11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to ^acset My face against you for ^{▼▼ Lit evil}woe, even to cut off all Judah. 12 ‘And I will ^aetake away the remnant of Judah who have set their ^{▼▼ Lit face}mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all ^{▼▼ Lit be finished
,} ^ahmeet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a ^aicurse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach. 13 ‘And I will ^ajpunish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine and with pestilence. 14 ‘So there will be ^akno refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are ^{▼▼ Lit lifting up their soul
,} ^amlonging to return and live; for none will ^anreturn except a few refugees.’”

15 Then ^aoall the men who were aware that their wives were burning ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, ^{▼▼ Lit and}including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, 16 “As for the ^{▼▼ Lit word
,} ^asmessage that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^atwe are not going to listen to you! 17 “But rather we will certainly ^aucarry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, ^{▼▼ Or so as to burn}by burning ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to the ^axqueen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ^aywe ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had ^azplenty of ^{▼▼ Lit bread}food and were well off and saw no ^{▼▼ Lit evil}misfortune. 18 “But since we stopped burning ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ^bdlacked everything and have ^{▼▼ Lit been finished}met our end by the sword and by famine.” 19 “And,” said the women, “when we were ^bfburning ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to the queen of heaven and ^{▼▼ Lit to pour}were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ^biwithout our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes ^{▼▼ Lit to make an image of her}in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Calamity for the Jews

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women— even to all the people who were giving him such an answer— saying, 21 “As for the ^{▼▼ Or incense
,} ^blsmoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the ^bmstreets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord ^bnremember them and did not all this come into His ^{▼▼ Lit heart}mind? 22 “So the Lord was ^bpno longer able to endure it, ^bqbecause of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ^brruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 “Because you have burned ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and ^btnot obeyed the voice of the Lord or ^buwalked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this ^bvcalamity has befallen you, as it has this day.”

24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, ^bw“Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are ^bxin the land of Egypt, 25 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^bycertainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn ^{▼▼ Or incense}sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ^{▼▼ Lit Surely cause to stand
,} ^cbGo ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ 26 ^{▼▼ Lit Therefore}“Nevertheless hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have ^cdsworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘ ^cenever shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ^cf“As the Lord ^{▼▼ Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God lives.” 27 ‘Behold, I am watching over them ^chfor harm and not for good, and ^ciall the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ^{▼▼ Lit be finished}meet their end by the sword and by famine until they ^{▼▼ Lit come to an end}are completely gone. 28 ‘ ^clThose who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ^{▼▼ Lit men of number
,} ^cnfew in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know ^cowhose word will stand, Mine or theirs. 29 ‘This will be the ^cpsign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^cqMy words will surely stand against you for harm.’ 30 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am going to give over ^crPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over ^csZedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”