Jeremiah 44:11–27

¹¹“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^aBehold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. ¹²I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^bset their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^cIn the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^cthey shall be consumed. ^dFrom the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^eand they shall become an oath, a horror, ^va curse, and a taunt. ^13fI will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, ^14gso that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^hor return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ⁱexcept some fugitives.”

¹⁵Then all the men who knew that ^jtheir wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^kPathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: ¹⁶“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^lwe will not listen to you. ^17mBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ⁿthe queen of heaven ^oand pour out drink offerings to her, ^pas 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. ¹⁸But since we left off making offerings to ⁿthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^qand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹And the women said,² “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^rand poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^swithout our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, ^tmen and women, all the people who had given him this answer: ^21u“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, ^vdid not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? ^22wThe Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^xthe abominations that you committed. ^yTherefore your land has become ^za desolation and a waste and a curse, ^awithout inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³It is because you made offerings ^band 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 ^cthat this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

²⁴Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, ^dall you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^eYou 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, ^fto make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! ²⁶Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ^dall you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^gBehold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^hthat my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ⁱsaying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ ^27jBehold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^kAll 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.