Jer.44
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which
dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
[2] Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and
upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
[3]
Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to
burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
[4] Howbeit
I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable
thing that I hate.
[5] But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn
no incense unto other gods.
[6] Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in
the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
[7]
Therefore now this saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great
evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave
you none to remain;
[8] In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense
unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and
that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
[9] Have ye 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 even unto this day, neither have
they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
[11]
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil,
and to cut off all Judah.
[12] And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the
land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall
even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest,
by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and
a reproach.
[13] For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by
the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
[14] So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are
gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the
land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as
shall escape.
[15] Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods,
and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in
Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
[16] As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of
the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
[17] But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of
our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as
we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets
of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
[18] But since we left
off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all
things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
[19] And when we burned incense to
the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her,
and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
[20] Then Jeremiah said unto all the people,
to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
[21] The
incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your
kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it
not into his mind?
[22] So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and
because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment,
and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
[23] Because ye have burned incense, and because
ye 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 evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
[24]
Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah
that are in the land of Egypt:
[25] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your
wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform
our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings