Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 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 ^lHoshaiah and ^mJohanan the son of Kareah and ⁿall the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ^o‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but ^pBaruch the son of Neriah ^qhas set you against us, ^rto deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So ^mJohanan the son of Kareah and all ^sthe 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 ^tall 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 ^uthe men, the women, the children, ^vthe princesses, and every person whom ^wNebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ^xGedaliah 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 ^yTahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^yTahpanhes: 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 ^yTahpanhes, 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, ^zmy servant, ^aand 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 ^band strike the land of Egypt, ^cgiving 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 ^dI shall kindle a fire ^ein the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them ^fand carry them away captive. ^gAnd he shall clean the land of Egypt ^gas a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the ^hobelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, ^eand the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Judgment for Idolatry

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at ⁱMigdol, at ^jTahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of ^kPathros, 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 ^lthey are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed, ^mprovoking me to anger, ⁿin that they went to make offerings ^oand serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 ^pYet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 ^qBut they did not listen ^qor incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 ^rTherefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ^sand 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 ^tagainst yourselves, to cut off from you ^uman and woman, ^uinfant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 ^mWhy do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, ⁿmaking offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^va curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^wthe evil of the kings of Judah, ^xthe evil of their¹ wives, your own evil, ^yand 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, ^znor 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: ^aBehold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^bset their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^cIn the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^cthey shall be consumed. ^dFrom the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^eand they shall become an oath, a horror, ^va curse, and a taunt. 13 ^fI will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 ^gso that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^hor return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ⁱexcept some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that ^jtheir wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^kPathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^lwe will not listen to you. 17 ^mBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ⁿthe queen of heaven ^oand pour out drink offerings to her, ^pas 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 ⁿthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^qand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said,² “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^rand poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^swithout 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, ^tmen and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 ^u“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, ^vdid not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 ^wThe Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^xthe abominations that you committed. ^yTherefore your land has become ^za desolation and a waste and a curse, ^awithout inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings ^band 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 ^cthat 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, ^dall you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^eYou 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, ^fto 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, ^dall you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^gBehold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^hthat my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ⁱsaying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 ^jBehold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^kAll 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 ^lAnd those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, ^mfew in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, ⁿshall 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 ^omy words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^pPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^qand into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^rZedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

Message to Baruch

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^sBaruch the son of Neriah, ^twhen he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, ^uin the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, ^v‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. ^wI am weary with my groaning, ^xand I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: ^yBehold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5 And ^zdo you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, ^aI am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you ^byour life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^cconcerning the nations.

2 About Egypt. ^dConcerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in ^ethe fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of ^aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon ^xAmon of ^yThebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt ^zand her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 ^aI will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. ^bAfterward Egypt shall be inhabited ^cas in the days of old, declares the Lord.

Judgment on the Philistines

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^fconcerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down ^gGaza.