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Jeremiah 43

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

1 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of ^aHoshaiah and ^bJohanan the son of Kareah and ^call the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say ^d‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but ^eBaruch the son of Neriah ^fhas set you against us, ^gto deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So ^hJohanan the son of Kareah and all ⁱthe commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took ^jall the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— 6 ^kthe men, the women, the children ^lthe princesses, and every person whom ^mNebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ⁿGedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at ^oTahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^pTahpanhes: 9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in ^qTahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^rmy servant, ^sand I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come ^tand strike the land of Egypt, ^ugiving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 ^vI shall kindle a fire ^win the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them ^xand carry them away captive. ^yAnd he shall clean the land of Egypt ^zas a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the ^aaobelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, ^aband the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Jeremiah 44

Judgment for Idolatry

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at ^acMigdol, at ^adTahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of ^aePathros, 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 day ^afthey are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed ^agprovoking me to anger ^ahin that they went to make offerings ^aiand serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 ^ajYet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 ^akBut they did not listen ^alor incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 ^amTherefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ^anand 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 evil ^aoagainst yourselves, to cut off from you ^apman and woman, ^aqinfant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 ^arWhy do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands ^asmaking offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^ata curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^authe evil of the kings of Judah, ^avthe evil of their ^{▼

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Hebrew his} wives, your own evil, ^axand 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, ^aynor 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: ^azBehold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^baset their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^bbIn the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^bcthey shall be consumed. ^bdFrom the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^beand they shall become an oath, a horror, ^bfa curse, and a taunt. 13 ^bgI will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 ^bhso that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^bior return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return ^bjexcept some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that ^bktheir wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^blPathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord ^bmwe will not listen to you. 17 ^bnBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ^bothe queen of heaven ^bpand pour out drink offerings to her, ^bqas 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 to ^brthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^bsand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said, ^{▼

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Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said} “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^buand poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^bvwithout 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, ^bwmen and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 ^bx“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 ^bydid not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 ^bzThe Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^cathe abominations that you committed. ^cbTherefore your land has become ^cca desolation and a waste and a curse ^cdwithout inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings ^ceand 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 ^cfthat 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 ^cgall you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^chYou 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 ^cito 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 ^cjall you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^ckBehold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord ^clthat my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt ^cmsaying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 ^cnBehold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^coAll 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 ^cpAnd those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ^cqfew in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live ^crshall 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 that ^csmy words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^ctPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^cuand into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^cvZedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”