Jeremiah 44

Revised Geneva Translation

44 The Word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt and remained at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

² “Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You have seen all the misery that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah. And behold, this day they are desolate, and no one dwells in it,

³ ‘because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods whom they did not know, neither they nor you nor your fathers.

⁴ ‘However, I sent all my servants, the Prophets, to you, rising early and sending, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!”

⁵ ‘But they would not hear or incline their ear, to turn from their wickedness and to no longer burn incense to other gods.

⁶ ‘Therefore, My wrath and My anger was poured forth, and was kindled, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they were desolate and wasted, as they are this day.

⁷ “Therefore, now, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Why do you commit great evil against yourselves—to cut off man and woman from you, child and infant from out of Judah, leaving no one remaining—

⁸ in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to dwell, so that you might bring destruction to yourselves, and that you might be a curse and a reproach among all nations of the Earth?

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

¹⁰ ‘They are not humbled to this day, nor have they feared or walked in My Law or in My Statutes, which I set before you and before your fathers.’

¹¹ “Therefore, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will set My Face against you to misery, and to destroy all Judah.

¹² ‘And I will take the remnant of Judah that has set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell. And they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They shall die, from the least to the most, by the sword, and by the famine. And they shall be a detestation and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach.

¹³ ‘For I will visit those who dwell in the land of Egypt as I have visited Jerusalem—by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence—

¹⁴ ‘so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they should return to the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return, to dwell there. For no one shall return but those who shall escape.’”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives had burnt incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by (a great multitude), all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶ “The Word that you have spoken to us in the Name of the LORD, we will not hear it from you.

¹⁷ “But we will do whatever thing goes out of our own mouth—to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, both we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—for then we had plenty of rations and were well and felt no misery.

¹⁸ “But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had scarceness of all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”

¹⁹ And the women said, “And when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to make her glad and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,

²¹ “Did not the LORD remember the incense that you burnt in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? And has He not considered it?

²² “So the LORD could no longer bear it, because of the wickedness of your inventions, because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore, your land was desolate and an astonishment and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

²³ “Because you have burnt incense, and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the Voice of the LORD, nor walked in His Law, nor in His Statutes, nor in His Testimonies, therefore this plague has come upon you, as it is this day.”

²⁴ Moreover, Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, “Hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!

²⁵ “Thus speaks the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, “We will perform our vows that we have vowed to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.” You will perform your vows and do the things that you have vowed.’

²⁶ “Therefore, hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great Name,’ says the LORD, ‘that My Name shall no longer be called upon by the mouth of any man of Judah, in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The LORD God lives.”

²⁷ ‘Behold, I will watch over them for misery, and not for prosperity. And all men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine, until they are utterly destroyed.

²⁸ ‘Still, a small number who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt, into the land of Judah. And all the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall know Whose Words shall stand, Mine or theirs.

²⁹ ‘And this shall be a sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘when I visit you in this place, so that you may know that My Words shall surely stand against you for misery.’

³⁰ “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, his enemy, who also sought his life.’”