Jeremiah 44:11–27

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.