Jeremiah 44

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those living at Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the land of Pathros:

2“This is what Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Look at them today: they lie in ruins, and no one lives in them,

3because of the evil they did to provoke me to anger. They went to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors had known.

4Again and again I sent you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’

5But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their evil and stop burning incense to other gods.

6So my wrath and my anger were poured out and blazed against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a desolate ruin, as they are today.

7Now this is what Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves, cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, so that you leave yourselves no remnant,

8provoking me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have come to live? You will be cut off and will become an object of cursing and scorn among all the nations of the earth.

9Have you forgotten the evil done by your ancestors, the evil done by the kings of Judah and their wives, and the evil done by you and your wives in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and my decrees that I set before you and your ancestors.

11Therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am setting my face against you for disaster, to cut off all Judah.

12I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all perish in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword or perish by famine; from the least to the greatest they will die by the sword and by famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of contempt and scorn.

13I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt as I punished Jerusalem, with the sword, famine, and plague.

14None of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live. None will return except a few fugitives.”

15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were standing by, a great assembly, and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah:

16“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you!

17Instead, we will certainly do everything we have said we would do. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials, used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food, and we were well off and saw no disaster.

18But ever since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been wiped out by the sword and by famine.

19And when we women burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it 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, the men and the women, all the people who were answering him:

21“The incense that you burned in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your ancestors, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did Yahweh not remember it? Did it not come to his mind?

22Yahweh could no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable things you did, so your land became a ruin, a horror, and a curse, without inhabitants, as it is today.

23Because you burned incense and sinned against Yahweh, and did not obey the voice of Yahweh or walk in his law, his decrees, and his testimonies, this disaster has come upon you, as it has today.”

24Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt.

25This is what Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and carried it out with your hands. You said, ‘We will certainly fulfill the vows we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, keep your vows! Carry out your vows!

26Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, all you people of Judah who live in the land of Egypt: I have sworn by my great name, says Yahweh, that my name will never again be invoked by anyone from Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord Yahweh lives.’

27I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by famine until they are all gone.

28Those who escape the sword and return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to the land of Egypt to live there will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.

29This will be the sign to you, declares Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, so that you will know that my words against you will surely stand, bringing disaster.

30This is what Yahweh says: I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.”