1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, atich. 46:14; Ex. 14:2 Migdol, atjSee ch. 43:7-9 Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land ofkver. 15; See Isa. 11:11 Pathros, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this daylver. 6 they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed,mver. 8; See ch. 7:18, 19 provoking me to anger,nSee ch. 1:16 in that they went to make offeringsoch. 19:4; Deut. 6:14 and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 pSee 2 Chr. 36:15 Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate! ’ 5 qSee ch. 34:14 But they did not listenqSee ch. 34:14 or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 rSee ch. 7:20 Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem,sSee ch. 7:34; 9:11 and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7 And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great eviltHab. 2:10; [Num. 16:38; Prov. 20:2] against yourselves, to cut off from youu[ch. 38:23; Lam. 2:11] man and woman,u[ch. 38:23; Lam. 2:11] infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 m[See ver. 3 above] Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands,n[See ver. 3 above] making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and becomevch. 42:18; See ch. 18:16 a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers,w[ch. 15:4] the evil of the kings of Judah,x1 Kgs. 11:1, 8; 15:13; 2 Kgs. 11:1 the evil of their wives, your own evil,yver. 15, 25 and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day,z[Prov. 28:14] 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:aSee ch. 21:10 Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who havebch. 42:15 set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed.cch. 42:16 In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by faminecch. 42:16 they shall be consumed.dSee ch. 6:13 From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine,eSee ch. 18:16 and they shall become an oath, a horror,v[See ver. 8 above] a curse, and a taunt. 13 fch. 43:11 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 gch. 42:17 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or surviveh[ch. 22:27] or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return,i[ver. 28] except some fugitives. ”
15 Then all the men who knew thatjver. 9, 25 their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived inkSee ver. 1 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,lch. 6:16; 42:13 we will not listen to you. 17 m[Judg. 11:36] But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings tonch. 7:18 the queen of heavenoch. 19:13 and pour out drink offerings to her,p[1 Kgs. 11:33; 2 Kgs. 21:3] 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. 18 But since we left off making offerings ton[See ver. 17 above] the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everythingq[Lam. 3:22] and have been consumed by the sword and by famine. ” 19 And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heavenrch. 7:18 and poured out drink offerings to her, was its[Num. 30:6, 7] without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her? ”
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people,tch. 43:6 men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 uver. 17; [Ezek. 8:10, 11] “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,v[Ezek. 21:24] did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 wch. 5:9, 29 The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds andxEzek. 8:6 the abominations that you committed.ySee ch. 7:34 Therefore your land has becomezSee ch. 18:16 a desolation and a waste and a curse,aSee ch. 4:7 without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offeringsbSee ch. 40:3 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 testimoniesc[Deut. 31:29] that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day. ”
24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord,dver. 15; See ch. 43:5-7 all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:ever. 16 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,fver. 17 to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her. ’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,d[See ver. 24 above] all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt:gSee ch. 22:5 Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord,h[Ezek. 20:39] that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt,i[ch. 4:2] saying, ‘As the Lord God lives. ’ 27 jch. 31:28 Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good.kch. 42:16 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 l[ver. 14; Isa. 27:13] And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah,mEzek. 6:8 few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live,nver. 17, 25, 26 shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know thatoProv. 19:21 my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, behold, I will givepch. 46:17; See Ezek. 29:2-5; 30:21-24 Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemiesqch. 46:26 and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gaver[ch. 39:5] Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life. ”