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word that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans living in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros: 2 “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah. Look at them, today they are a desolation without an inhabitant in them, 3 because of their wickedness by which they have provoked Me to anger; for they went and burned incense and served other gods that neither they, nor you, nor your fathers ever knew. 4 So I sent to you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying, “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!” 5 But they did not listen, or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, or stop burning incense to other gods. 6 So My fierce anger was poured out, and it blazed against the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem; and they became the desolate ruins that they are this day’.
7 “Now therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why do you bring such great harm to yourselves? For you cut off from Judah the men and women, children and infants, leaving yourselves without a remnant. 8 Why do you provoke Me to anger by the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live? You will cut yourselves off and become an object of cursing and ridicule among all the nations on earth’.
9 ‘Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives that was committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not become humble to this day, nor have they shown reverence, nor have they walked in My law or in My statutes that I set before you and before your fathers’.
11 “Therefore this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set My face against you for disaster, to cut off all Judah. 12 And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt and live there; they will all perish and fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by famine, from the least to the greatest, and they will become an object of cursing and scorn, and of condemnation and disgrace. 13 I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. 14 Then no one from the remnant of Judah who has gone into the land of Egypt to live there will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah. Although they long to return and live there, none will return, except for a few fugitives’.”
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women standing by—a large assembly, and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros, answered Jeremiah, 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you! 17 But instead we will do everything that we said we would: we will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Back then we had plenty of food and were well off, and we saw no disaster. 18 But 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 consumed by the sword and by famine.”
19 Then the women said, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we made cakes formed in her image, and poured out drink offerings to her?”
20 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, the men and women, and all the people who had answered him, saying, 21 “As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land, did the Lord not remember them, and did it not come into His mind? 22 The Lord could no longer endure your evil deeds and the detestable things that you did. Therefore your land has become a desolate waste, without inhabitant, and an object of cursing as it is this day. 23 Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has happened to you, as it is this day.”
24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who are in the land of Egypt. 25 This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘You and your wives have promised with your mouths, and fulfilled with your deeds, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings for her”. Go ahead then, you keep your vows, and perform your vows!’
26 “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name’, declares the Lord, ‘that My name will never again be invoked by the mouth of any man from Judah in all of the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives”. 27 Behold, I will be watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by famine, until they are all destroyed. 28 Those who escape the sword and return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah will be very few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to live there will know whose word will stand—Mine or theirs.
29 ‘This will be a sign to you’, declares the Lord, ‘that I will punish you in this place, so that you will know that My words against you for your harm will surely stand’. 30 This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to give Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, those who seek his life; just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life’.”