Jer 30, Jer 44 | ESV | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord :

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^aWrite in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 ^bFor behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, ^cwhen I will restore ^dthe fortunes of my people, ^eIsrael and Judah, says the Lord, ^fand I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”

4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning ^gIsrael and Judah:

5 “Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
of terror, and no peace.
6 Ask now, and see,
can a man bear a child?
^hWhy then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach ⁱlike a woman in labor?
^jWhy has every face turned pale?
7 Alas! ^kThat day is so great
^lthere is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
yet he shall be saved out of it.
8 “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will ^mbreak his ⁿyoke from off your neck, and I will ^oburst your bonds, ^pand foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. ^{▼▼Or serve him} 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and ^rDavid their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10 ^s“Then fear not, ^tO Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, ^uI will save you from far away,
^vand your offspring from the land of their captivity.
^wJacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
11 ^xFor I am with you to save you,

declares the Lord;
^yI will make a full end of all the nations
among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
^zI will ^aadiscipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
12 “For thus says the Lord:
^abYour hurt is incurable,
^acand your wound is grievous.
13 There is none to uphold your cause,
no medicine for your wound,
^adno healing for you.
14 ^aeAll your lovers have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of ^afan enemy,
the punishment ^agof a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
^ahbecause your sins are flagrant.
15 ^aiWhy do you cry out over your hurt?
^ajYour pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
^akbecause your sins are flagrant,
I have done these things to you.
16 ^alTherefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
and ^amall your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
^anthose who plunder you shall be plundered,
^aoand all who prey on you I will make a prey.
17 ^apFor I will restore ^aqhealth to you,
and ^aryour wounds I will heal,

declares the Lord,
because ^asthey have called you an outcast:
^at‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
18 “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, ^auI will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on ^avits mound,
and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
19 ^awOut of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
and the voices of those who celebrate.
^axI will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
20 ^ayTheir children shall be as they were of old,
and their congregation shall be established before me,
and I will punish all who oppress them.
21 ^azTheir prince shall be one of themselves;
^batheir ruler shall come out from their midst;
^bbI will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
^bcfor who would dare of himself to approach me?

declares the Lord.
22 ^bdAnd you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 ^beBehold ^bfthe storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
24 ^bgThe fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intentions of his mind.
^bhIn the latter days you will understand this.

Jeremiah 44

Judgment for Idolatry

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at ^biMigdol, at ^bjTahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of ^bkPathros, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day ^blthey are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed, ^bmprovoking me to anger, ^bnin that they went to make offerings ^boand serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 ^bpYet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 ^bqBut they did not listen ^bror incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 ^bsTherefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ^btand they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7 And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil ^buagainst yourselves, to cut off from you ^bvman and woman, ^bwinfant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 ^bxWhy do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, ^bymaking offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^bza curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^cathe evil of the kings of Judah, ^cbthe evil of their ^{▼▼Hebrew his} wives, your own evil, ^cdand the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day, ^cenor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^cfBehold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^cgset their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^chIn the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^cithey shall be consumed. ^cjFrom the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^ckand they shall become an oath, a horror, ^cla curse, and a taunt. 13 ^cmI will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 ^cnso that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^coor return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ^cpexcept some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that ^cqtheir wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^crPathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^cswe will not listen to you. 17 ^ctBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ^cuthe queen of heaven ^cvand pour out drink offerings to her, ^cwas we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to ^cxthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^cyand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said, ^{▼▼Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said} “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^daand poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^dbwithout our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, ^dcmen and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 ^dd“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, ^dedid not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 ^dfThe Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^dgthe abominations that you committed. ^dhTherefore your land has become ^dia desolation and a waste and a curse, ^djwithout inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings ^dkand because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies ^dlthat this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, ^dmall you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^dnYou and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, ^doto make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ^dpall you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^dqBehold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^drthat my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ^dssaying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 ^dtBehold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^duAll the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28 ^dvAnd those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, ^dwfew in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, ^dxshall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that ^dymy words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^dzPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^eaand into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^ebZedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”