Jeremiah 43:1–44:30

And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, even all these words, 2 Then spake Azariah the son of aHoshaiah, and bJohanan the son of Kareah, and all the cproud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, dGo not into Egypt to sojourn there: 3 But eBaruch the son of Neriah fsetteth thee on against us, gfor to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. 4 So bJohanan the son of Kareah, and hall the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5 But bJohanan the son of Kareah, and hall the captains of the forces, took iall the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; 6 Even kmen, and kwomen, and children, and lthe king’s daughters, and every person that mNebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and eBaruch the son of Neriah. 7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: thus came they even to ||nTahpanhes.

8 *Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in nTahpanhes, saying, 9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in othe brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in nTahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; 10 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, pmy servant, and qwill set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. 11 And when he cometh, rhe shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver ssuch as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword. 12 And tI will kindle a fire in the houses of uthe gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and vcarry them away captives: and he shall vvarray himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. 13 He shall break also the †wimages of ||Beth-shemesh, xthat is in the land of Egypt; and uthe houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

44 *The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at abMigdol, and at acTahpanhes, and at adNoph, and in the country of ePathros, saying, 2 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 they are fa desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, 3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed gto provoke me to anger, in that they went hto burn incense, and to serve iother gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers. 4 Howbeit kI sent unto you all my servants the prophets, krising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. 5 lBut they hearkened not, lnor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, hto burn no incense unto other gods. 6 Wherefore mmy fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are fnwasted and odesolate, as at this day. 7 Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil pagainst your souls, to cut off from you qman and woman, qrchild and suckling, †out of Judah, to sleave you none to remain; 8 In that ye gprovoke me unto wrath with ssthe works of your hands, hburning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be ta curse and ta reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have ye forgotten the †wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of vtheir wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of vvyour wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They are not †humbled even unto this day, neither have they wfeared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, xI will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah. 12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have yset their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and zthey shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed zby the sword and by the famine: they shall die, afrom the least even unto the greatest, zby the sword and by the famine: and bthey shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and ca curse, and ca reproach. 13 dFor I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, zby the sword, zby the famine, and zby the pestilence: 14 So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall eescape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they †have a desire to return to dwell there: for fnone shall return but such as shall escape.

15 Then all the men which knew that gtheir 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 hPathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, iwe will not hearken unto thee. 17 But we will certainly do jwhatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the ||kqueen of heaven, and klto pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, lwe, 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 †victuals, and mwere well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we left off kto burn incense to the queen of heaven, and kto pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and nhave been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19 And kwhen we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and lpoured out drink offerings unto her, did we kmake her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our ||men?

20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to othe men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21 mThe 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, did not the Lord ooremember them, and came it not into his mind? 22 pSo that the Lord qcould no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land rsa desolation, and rstan astonishment, and sta curse, uwithout an inhabitant, as at this day. 23 Because ye have burned incense, and vbecause ye 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 wthis evil is happened unto you, as at this day.

24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the Lord, xall Judah that are in the land of Egypt: 25 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; gYe and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, jWe will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, lto burn incense to the queen of heaven, and lto pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. 26 Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, xall Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, yI have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, zthat my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, aThe Lord God liveth. 27 Behold, bI will watch over them for evil, and not cfor good: and xall the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt dshall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. 28 eYet fa small number gthat 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 hwhose words shall stand, †mine, or theirs. 29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words ishall surely stand against you for evil: 30 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, kI will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and linto the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave mZedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.