Jeremiah 44:11–27

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.