Jeremiah 44:3-48:10

English Standard Version

³because of the evil that they committed, ^(A)provoking me to anger, ^(B)in that they went to make offerings ^(C)and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. ⁴^(D)Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ ⁵^(E)But they did not listen ^(F)or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. ⁶^(G)Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ^(H)and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. ⁷And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil ^(I)against yourselves, to cut off from you ^(J)man and woman, ^(K)infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? ⁸^(L)Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, ^(M)making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^(N)a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? ⁹Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^(O)the evil of the kings of Judah, ^(P)the evil of their^[a] wives, your own evil, ^(Q)and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰They have not humbled themselves even to this day, ^(R)nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

¹¹“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(S)Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. ¹²I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^(T)set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^(U)In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^(V)they shall be consumed. ^(W)From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^(X)and they shall become an oath, a horror, ^(Y)a curse, and a taunt. ¹³^(Z)I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, ¹⁴^(AA)so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^(AB)or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ^(AC)except some fugitives.”

¹⁵Then all the men who knew that ^(AD)their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^(AE)Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: ¹⁶“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^(AF)we will not listen to you. ¹⁷^(AG)But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ^(AH)the queen of heaven ^(AI)and pour out drink offerings to her, ^(AJ)as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. ¹⁸But since we left off making offerings to ^(AK)the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^(AL)and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹And the women said,^[b] “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^(AM)and poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^(AN)without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, ^(AO)men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: ²¹^(AP)“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, ^(AQ)did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? ²²^(AR)The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^(AS)the abominations that you committed. ^(AT)Therefore your land has become ^(AU)a desolation and a waste and a curse, ^(AV)without inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³It is because you made offerings ^(AW)and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies ^(AX)that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

²⁴Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, ^(AY)all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(AZ)You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, ^(BA)to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! ²⁶Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ^(BB)all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^(BC)Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^(BD)that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ^(BE)saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ ²⁷^(BF)Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^(BG)All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. ²⁸^(BH)And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, ^(BI)few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, ^(BJ)shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. ²⁹This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that ^(BK)my words will surely stand against you for harm: ³⁰Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^(BL)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^(BM)and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^(BN)Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

Message to Baruch

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^(BO)Baruch the son of Neriah, ^(BP)when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, ^(BQ)in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ²“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: ³You said, ^(BR)‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. ^(BS)I am weary with my groaning, ^(BT)and I find no rest.’ ⁴Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: ^(BU)Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. ⁵And ^(BV)do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, ^(BW)I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you ^(BX)your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^(BY)concerning the nations.

²About Egypt. ^(BZ)Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in ^(CA)the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³^(CB)“Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!
⁴^(CC)Harness the horses;
    mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
    ^(CD)polish your spears,
    put on your armor!
⁵Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
    and have turned backward.
Their ^(CE)warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste;
^(CF)they look not back—
    ^(CG)terror on every side!
declares the Lord.

⁶“The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
^(CH)in the north by the river Euphrates
^(CI)they have stumbled and fallen.

⁷“Who is this, ^(CJ)rising like the Nile,
    like rivers ^(CK)whose waters surge?
⁸Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers ^(CL)whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
⁹^(CM)Advance, O horses,
    and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
    men of Cush and ^(CN)Put who handle the shield,
    ^(CO)men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
¹⁰^(CP)That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    ^(CQ)a day of vengeance,
    ^(CR)to avenge himself on his foes.
^(CS)The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds ^(CT)a sacrifice
    ^(CU)in the north country ^(CV)by the river Euphrates.
¹¹^(CW)Go up to Gilead, and take ^(CX)balm,
    O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
    ^(CY)there is no healing for you.
¹²The nations have heard of your shame,
    and the earth is full of your cry;
^(CZ)for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
    they have both fallen together.”

¹³The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of ^(DA)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in ^(DB)Migdol;
    proclaim in ^(DC)Memphis and ^(DD)Tahpanhes;
say, ^(DE)‘Stand ready and be prepared,
    for ^(DF)the sword shall devour around you.’
¹⁵Why are your mighty ones face down?
    They do not stand^[c]
    because the Lord thrust them down.
¹⁶He made many stumble, ^(DG)and they fell,
    and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
    and to the land of our birth,
    ^(DH)because of the sword of the oppressor.’
¹⁷Call the name of ^(DI)Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
    ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

¹⁸^(DJ)“As I live, declares the King,
    ^(DK)whose name is the Lord of hosts,
like ^(DL)Tabor among the mountains
    and like ^(DM)Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
¹⁹^(DN)Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
    O ^(DO)inhabitants of Egypt!
For ^(DP)Memphis shall become a waste,
    a ruin, ^(DQ)without inhabitant.

²⁰“A beautiful ^(DR)heifer is Egypt,
    but a biting fly ^(DS)from the north has come upon her.
²¹Even her hired soldiers in her midst
    are like ^(DT)fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
    they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
    ^(DU)the time of their punishment.

²²“She makes ^(DV)a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    ^(DW)like those who fell trees.
²³^(DX)They shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
    though it is impenetrable,
because ^(DY)they are more numerous than locusts;
    they are without number.
²⁴The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
    she shall be delivered into the hand of ^(DZ)a people from the north.”

²⁵The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon ^(EA)Amon of ^(EB)Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt ^(EC)and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶^(ED)I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. ^(EE)Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited ^(EF)as in the days of old, declares the Lord.

²⁷^(EG)“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
²⁸^(EH)Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
    for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
    to which I have driven you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
^(EI)I will discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Judgment on the Philistines

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^(EJ)concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down ^(EK)Gaza.

²“Thus says the Lord:
^(EL)Behold, waters are rising ^(EM)out of the north,
    ^(EN)and shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow ^(EO)the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
    and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
³At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
    ^(EP)at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers ^(EQ)look not back to their children,
    so feeble are their hands,
⁴because of the day that is coming to destroy
    all ^(ER)the Philistines,
to cut off from ^(ES)Tyre and Sidon
    every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
    ^(ET)the remnant of the coastland of ^(EU)Caphtor.
⁵^(EV)Baldness has come upon Gaza;
    ^(EW)Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
    ^(EX)how long will you gash yourselves?
⁶^(EY)Ah, sword of the Lord!
    How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
    rest and be still!
⁷How can it^[d] be quiet
    ^(EZ)when the Lord has given it a charge?
Against ^(FA)Ashkelon and against the seashore
    ^(FB)he has appointed it.”

Judgment on Moab

48 ^(FC)Concerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to ^(FD)Nebo, for it is laid waste!
    ^(FE)Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame ^(FF)and broken down;
²    the renown of Moab is no more.
In ^(FG)Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
    ‘Come, let us cut her off ^(FH)from being a nation!’
You also, O ^(FI)Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
    the sword shall pursue you.

³“A voice! A cry from ^(FJ)Horonaim,
    ‘Desolation and great destruction!’
⁴Moab is destroyed;
    her little ones have made a cry.
⁵^(FK)For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;^[e]
for ^(FL)at the descent of Horonaim
    they have heard the distressed cry^[f] of destruction.
⁶Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like ^(FM)a juniper in the desert!
⁷For, ^(FN)because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
and ^(FO)Chemosh ^(FP)shall go into exile
    with ^(FQ)his priests and his officials.
⁸^(FR)The destroyer shall come upon every city,
    and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and ^(FS)the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the Lord has spoken.