Jeremiah 44–46

A Message of Rebuke for the Rebellious Remnant

44The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living at Migdol, and Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,^{a 2}“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the towns of Judah. And look, they are a site of ruins this day, and there is not in them an inhabitant, ³because of^b their wickedness that they committed to provoke me to anger by going to make smoke offerings, serving other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, or your ancestors.^{c 4}And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,^d saying,^e “Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate.” ⁵But they did not listen and they did not incline their ears^f to turn back from their wickedness, to not make smoke offerings to other gods. ⁶So my wrath and my anger were poured out^g and burned^h in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became as a site of ruins, as a desolation, as they are this day.’

⁷So then, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Why are you doing great harm to yourselves,ⁱ to cut off for yourselves man and woman, child and suckling, from the midst of Judah, to not leave over for yourselves a remnant, ⁸provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, to make smoke offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell as aliens, so as to cut off yourselves, and so that you are becoming as a curse, and as a disgrace among all the nations of the earth? ⁹Have you forgotten the wicked things of your ancestors,^j and the wicked things of the kings of Judah, and the wicked things of their wives, and your wicked things, and the wicked things of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰They have not shown contrition up to this day, and they have not shown reverence, and they have not walked in my law and in my statutes that I set before you^k and before^l your ancestors.’^m

¹¹Thereforeⁿ thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Look, I am determined to bring disaster on you,^o even to exterminate all Judah.¹²And I will take away the remnant of Judah who are determined^p to come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from the smallest to the greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace. ¹³So I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. ¹⁴And there will not be a survivor or an escapee of the remnant of Judah, those who have come to dwell as an alien there in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Judah where they are longing^q to return to dwell there, for they will not turn back, but only^r some survivors.’ ”

¹⁵Then all the men who knew that their wives were making smoke offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, and all the people who lived in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,^{s 16}“Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷But certainly we will do everything^t that went out from our mouths,^u to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors,^v our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for then we had enough to eat,^w and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster. ¹⁸But since^x we stopped making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have perished. ¹⁹And indeed, when we were making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out^y to her libations, was it not with the consent of^z our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes marked with her image,^a and we poured out to her libations?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who answered him a word, saying,^{b 21}“The smoke offerings that you made in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your ancestors,^c your kings and your officials, and the people of the land—did not Yahweh remember them, and did it not come to his mind?^{d 22}And Yahweh was no longer able to bear^e it, because of^f the evil of your deeds, because of^g the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, without^h inhabitants, as it is this day. ²³Because ofⁱ the fact that you made smoke offerings, and that you sinned against Yahweh, and you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you have not walked in his law, and in his statute, and in his legal provisions, therefore^j this disaster has happened to you, as it is this day.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,^k ‘You and your wives have promised with your mouths^l and with your hands^m you have fulfilled, saying,ⁿ “We certainly will carry out our vows that we vowed, to make smoke offerings to the queen of the heavens,^o and to pour out to her libations.” You must certainly keep your vows and you must certainly carry out your vows.’ ²⁶Therefore^p hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah, those who live in the land of Egypt: ‘Look, I hereby swear by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘surely my name will no longer be called in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, “as the Lord Yahweh lives,”^q in all the land of Egypt. ²⁷Look, I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good, and all people^r of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by the famine until their perishing. ²⁸And the survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number.^s And all the remnant of Judah who have come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there will know whose word will endure, from me or from them. ²⁹And this will be to you the sign,’ declares^t Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that surely my words will endure against you for evil.’ ³⁰Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I am going to give Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, his enemy and the one who sought his life.’ ”

A Message for Baruch

45The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch, the son of Neriah, at his writing these words on a scroll from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,^{a 2}“Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: ³‘You said, “Woe please to me, for Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary in my groaning and I do not find rest.” ’ ⁴Thus you will say to him: ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to pluck up, it is all the land. ⁵And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek great things,^b for look, I am about to bring disaster upon all flesh,” declares^c Yahweh, “but to you I will give your life as booty in all the places where you may go.” ’ ”

Messages Concerning Egypt

46The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. ²Concerning Egypt: Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.

³“Prepare small shield and shield,

and approach for the battle!

⁴Harness the horses and mount the steeds!

And take your stand with helmets!

Polish the spears!

Put on the body armor!

⁵Why do I see them terrified?

They are turning back

and their warriors are beaten down.

And they have fled to a place of refuge

and they do not turn back.

Terror is from all around,” declares^a Yahweh.

⁶The swift cannot flee,

and the warrior cannot escape.

In the north by the bank of the Euphrates River,

they have stumbled and they have fallen.

⁷Who is this that rises like the Nile,

like the rivers whose waters surge?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,

even like the rivers whose waters surge.

And he says, “Let me rise,

let me cover the earth,

let me destroy cities,

and the inhabitants in them.”

⁹Go up, O horses,

and drive madly, O chariots,^b

and let the warriors go forth;

Cush and Put, who wield the small shield,

and Lud, who wield and bend the bow.

¹⁰For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hosts

a day of retribution,

to take revenge on his foes.

And the sword will devour and be satisfied,

and it will drink its fill of their blood,

for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hosts

in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and take balm,

O virgin of the daughter of Egypt.

In vain^c you make use of many medicines;

there is no healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard your shame,

and your cry of lament fills the earth.

For warrior has stumbled against warrior,

together they have fallen, the two of them.

¹³The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol,

and proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes,

say, ‘Take your stand and be prepared,

for the sword will devour those all around you.’

¹⁵Why are your bulls defeated?

He did not stand because Yahweh thrust him down.

¹⁶He multiplied the ones^d stumbling.

Furthermore, each one fell to his…