Jeremiah 44–46

Chapter 44

Conquest of Egypt Predicted

¹The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in ^aMigdol, ^bTahpanhes, ^cMemphis, and the land of ^dPathros, saying,

²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ^aruins and no one lives in them,

^3abecause of their wickedness which they committed so as to ^bprovoke Me to anger by continuing to ^cburn ¹sacrifices and to ^dserve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers.

⁴‘Yet I ^asent you all My servants the prophets, ¹again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this ^babominable thing which I hate.”

⁵‘But ^athey did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn ¹sacrifices to other gods.

⁶‘Therefore My ^awrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the ^bcities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a ^cdesolation as it is this day.

⁷‘Now then thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you ^adoing great harm to yourselves, so as to ^bcut off from you man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant,

^8aprovoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, ^bburning ¹sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a ^ccurse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

⁹“Have you forgotten the ^awickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰“But they ^ahave not become ¹contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor ^bwalked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers.” ’

¹¹“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to ^aset My face against you for ¹woe, even to cut off all Judah.

¹²‘And I will ^atake away the remnant of Judah who have set their ¹mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all ^2bmeet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a ^ccurse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach.

¹³‘And I will ^apunish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine and with pestilence.

¹⁴‘So there will be ^ano refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are ^1blonging to return and live; for none will ^creturn except a few refugees.’ ”

¹⁵Then ^aall the men who were aware that their wives were burning ¹sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, ²including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶“As for the ^1amessage that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^bwe are not going to listen to you!

¹⁷“But rather we will certainly ^acarry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, ¹by burning ²sacrifices to the ^bqueen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ^cwe ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had ^dplenty of ³food and were well off and saw no ⁴misfortune.

¹⁸“But since we stopped burning ¹sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ^alacked everything and have ²met our end by the sword and by famine.”

¹⁹“And,” said the women, “when we were ^aburning ¹sacrifices to the queen of heaven and ²were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ^bwithout our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes ³in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Calamity for the Jews

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying,

²¹“As for the ^1asmoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the ^bstreets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord ^cremember them and did not all this come into His ²mind?

²²“So the Lord was ^ano longer able to endure it, ^bbecause of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ^cruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day.

²³“Because you have burned ¹sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and ^anot obeyed the voice of the Lord or ^bwalked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this ^ccalamity has befallen you, as it has this day.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “^aHear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are ^bin the land of Egypt,

²⁵thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^acertainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn ¹sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ^2bGo ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’

²⁶“¹Nevertheless hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have ^asworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘^bnever shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “^cAs the Lord ²God lives.”

²⁷‘Behold, I am watching over them ^afor harm and not for good, and ^ball the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ¹meet their end by the sword and by famine until they ²are completely gone.

²⁸‘^aThose who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ^1bfew in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know ^cwhose word will stand, Mine or theirs.

²⁹‘This will be the ^asign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^bMy words will surely stand against you for harm.’

³⁰“Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am going to give over ^aPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over ^bZedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’ ”

Chapter 45

Message to Baruch

¹This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^aBaruch the son of Neriah, when he had ^bwritten down these words in a book ¹at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the ^cfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:

²“Thus says the Lord the God of Israel to you, O Baruch:

³‘You said, “Ah, woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am ^aweary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’

⁴“Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, ^awhat I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.”

⁵‘But you, are you ^aseeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to ^bbring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will ^cgive your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.’ ”

Chapter 46

Defeat of Pharaoh Foretold

¹That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet ^aconcerning the nations.

²To ^aEgypt, concerning the army of ^bPharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at ^cCarchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the ^dfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“^aLine up the shield and ¹buckler,

And draw near for the battle!

⁴“Harness the horses,

And ¹mount the steeds,

And take your stand with helmets on!

^aPolish the spears,

Put on the ^bscale-armor!

⁵“Why have I seen it?

They are terrified,

They are ^adrawing back,

And their ^bmighty men are defeated

And have taken refuge in flight,

Without facing back;

^1cTerror is on every side!”

Declares the Lord.

⁶Let not the ^aswift man flee,

Nor the mighty man escape;

In the north beside the river Euphrates

They have ^bstumbled and fallen.

⁷Who is this that ^arises like the Nile,

Like the rivers whose waters surge about?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,

Even like the rivers whose waters surge about;

And He has said, “I will ^arise and cover that land;

I will surely ^bdestroy the city and its inhabitants.”

⁹Go up, you horses, and ^1adrive madly, you chariots,

That the mighty men may ²march forward:

Ethiopia and ^3bPut, that handle the shield,

And the ^4cLydians, that handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For ^athat day belongs to the Lord ¹God of hosts,

A day of ^bvengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes;

And the ^csword will devour and be satiated

And ²drink its fill of their blood;

For there will be a ^dslaughter for the Lord God of hosts,

In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.

¹¹Go ^aup to Gilead and obtain balm,

^bO virgin daughter of Egypt!

In vain have you multiplied ¹remedies;

There is ^cno healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard of your ^ashame,

And the earth is full of your ^bcry of distress;

For one ^cwarrior has stumbled over ¹another,

And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³This is the ¹message which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the ^acoming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to ^bsmite the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in ^aMigdol,

Proclaim also in Memphis and ^bTahpanhes;

Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,

For the ^csword has devoured those around you.’

¹⁵“Why have your ^amighty ones become prostrate?

They do not stand because the Lord has ^bthrust them down.

¹⁶“They have repeatedly ^astumbled;

Indeed, they have fallen one against another.

Then they said, ‘Get up! And ^blet us go back

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