44Jeremiah received a message from the Lord for all the Jews living in Egypt—in the cities of Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in southern Egypt. This was the message: ²“The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: You saw all the terrible things I brought on Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, which are ruins today with no one living in them. ³It is because the people who lived there did evil. They made me angry by burning incense and worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors ever knew. ⁴I sent all my servants, the prophets, to you again and again. By them I said to you, ‘Don’t do this terrible thing that I hate.’ ⁵But they did not listen or pay attention. They did not stop doing evil things and burning incense to other gods. ⁶So I showed my great anger against them. I poured out my anger in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem so they are only ruins and piles of stones today.

⁷“Now the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves? You are cutting off the men and women, children and babies from the family of Judah, leaving yourselves without anyone from the family of Judah. ⁸Why do you want to make me angry by making idols? Why do you burn incense to the gods of Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves. Other nations will speak evil of you and make fun of you. ⁹Have you forgotten about the evil things your ancestors did? And have you forgotten the evil the kings and queens of Judah did? Have you forgotten about the evil you and your wives did? These things were done in the country of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. ¹⁰Even to this day the people of Judah are still too proud. They have not learned to respect me or to follow my teachings. They have not obeyed the laws I gave you and your ancestors.

¹¹“So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disasters on you. I will destroy the whole family of Judah. ¹²The few who were left alive from Judah were determined to go to Egypt and settle there, but they will all die in Egypt. They will be killed in war or die from hunger. From the least important to the greatest, they will be killed in war or die from hunger. Other nations will speak evil about them. People will be shocked by what has happened to them. They will become a curse word, and people will insult them. ¹³I will punish those people who have gone to live in Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, using swords, hunger, and terrible diseases. ¹⁴Of the people of Judah who were left alive and have gone to live in Egypt, none will escape my punishment. They want to return to Judah and live there, but none of them will live to return to Judah, except a few people who will escape.”

¹⁵A large group of the people of Judah who lived in southern Egypt were meeting together. Among them were many women of Judah who were burning incense to other gods, and their husbands knew it. All these people said to Jeremiah, ¹⁶“We will not listen to the message from the Lord that you spoke to us. ¹⁷We promised to make sacrifices to the Queen Goddess, and we will certainly do everything we promised. We will burn incense and pour out drink offerings to worship her, just as we, our ancestors, kings, and officers did in the past. All of us did these things in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were successful, and nothing bad happened to us. ¹⁸But since we stopped making sacrifices to the Queen Goddess and stopped pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had great problems. Our people have also been killed in war and by hunger.”

¹⁹The women said, “Our husbands knew what we were doing. We had their permission to burn incense to the Queen Goddess and to pour out drink offerings to her. Our husbands knew we were making cakes that looked like her and were pouring out drink offerings to her.”

²⁰Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people—men and women—who answered him. ²¹He said to them, “The Lord remembered that you and your ancestors, kings and officers, and the people of the land burned incense in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. He remembered and thought about it. ²²Then he could not be patient with you any longer. He hated the terrible things you did. So he made your country an empty desert, where no one lives. Other people curse that country. And so it is today. ²³All this happened because you burned incense to other gods. You sinned against the Lord. You did not obey him or follow his teachings or the laws he gave you. You did not keep your part of the agreement with him. So this disaster has happened to you. It is there for you to see.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all those men and women, “People of Judah who are now in Egypt, hear the word of the Lord: ²⁵The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives did what you said you would do. You said, ‘We will certainly keep the promises we made. We promised to make sacrifices to the Queen Goddess and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ So, go ahead. Do the things you promised, and keep your promises. ²⁶But hear the word of the Lord. Listen, all you Jews living in Egypt. The Lord says, ‘I have sworn by my great name: The people of Judah now living in Egypt will never again use my name to make promises. They will never again say in Egypt, “As surely as the Lord God lives …” ²⁷I am watching over them, not to take care of them, but to hurt them. The Jews who live in Egypt will die from swords or hunger until they are all destroyed. ²⁸A few will escape being killed by the sword and will come back to Judah from Egypt. Then, of the people of Judah who came to live in Egypt, those who are left alive will know if my word or their word came true. ²⁹I will give you a sign that I will punish you here in Egypt,’ says the Lord. ‘When you see it happen, you will know that my promises to hurt you will really happen.’ ³⁰This is what the Lord says: ‘Hophra king of Egypt has enemies who want to kill him. Soon I will hand him over to his enemies just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who wanted to kill him.’ ”

A Message to Baruch

45It was the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. Jeremiah the prophet told these things to Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote them on a scroll: ²“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: ³You have said, ‘How terrible it is for me! The Lord has given me sorrow along with my pain. I am tired because of my suffering and cannot rest.’ ”

⁴The Lord said, “Say this to Baruch: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will soon tear down what I have built, and I will pull up what I have planted everywhere in Judah. ⁵Baruch, you are looking for great things for yourself. Don’t look for them, because I will bring disaster on all the people, says the Lord. You will have to go many places, but I will let you escape alive wherever you go.’ ”

Messages to the Nations

46The Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:

²This message is to Egypt. It is about the army of Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at the city of Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This was in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. This is the Lord’s message to Egypt:

³“Prepare your shields, large and small,

and march out for battle!

⁴Harness the horses

and get on them!

Go to your places for battle

and put on your helmets!

Polish your spears.

Put on your armor!

⁵What do I see?

That army is terrified,

and the soldiers are running away.

Their warriors are defeated.

They run away quickly

without looking back.

There is terror on every side!” says the Lord.

⁶“The fast runners cannot run away;

the strong soldiers cannot escape.

They stumble and fall

in the north, by the Euphrates River.

⁷Who is this, rising up like the Nile River,

like strong, fast rivers?

⁸Egypt rises up like the Nile River,

like strong, fast rivers.

Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and cover the earth.

I will destroy cities and the people in them!’

⁹Horsemen, charge into battle!

Chariot drivers, drive hard!

March on, brave soldiers—

soldiers from the countries of Cush and Put who carry shields,

soldiers from Lydia who use bows.

¹⁰“But that day belongs to the Lord God All-Powerful.

At that time he will give those people the punishment they deserve.

The sword will kill until it is finished,

until it satisfies its thirst for their blood.

The Lord God All-Powerful will offer a sacrifice

in the land of the north, by the Euphrates River.

¹¹“Go up to Gilead and get some balm,

people of Egypt!

You have prepared many medicines,

but they will not work;

you will not be healed.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame,

and your cries fill all the earth.

One warrior has run into another;

both of them have fallen down together!”

¹³This is the message the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon’s coming to attack Egypt:

¹⁴“Announce this message in Egypt, and preach it in Migdol.

Preach it also in the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes:

‘Get ready for war,

because the battle is all around you.’

¹⁵Egypt, why were your warriors killed?

They could not stand because the Lord pushed them down.

¹⁶They stumbled again and again

and fell over each other.

They said, ‘Get up. Let’s go back

to our own people and our homeland.

We must get away from our enemy’s sword!’

¹⁷In their homelands those soldiers called out,

‘The king of Egypt is only a lot of noise.

He missed his chance for glory!’ ”

¹⁸The King’s name is the Lord All-Powerful.

He says, “As surely as I live,

a powerful leader will come.

He will be like Mount Tabor among the mountains,

like Mount Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹People of Egypt, pack your things

to be taken away as captives,

because Memphis will be destroyed.

It will be a ruin, and no one will live there.

²⁰“Egypt is like a beautiful young cow,

but a horsefly is coming

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