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:
3 f“Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance for battle!
4 gHarness the horses;
mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
fpolish your spears,
put on your armor!
5 Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
and have turned backward.
Their hwarriors are beaten down
and have fled in haste;
ithey look not back—
jterror on every side!
declares the Lord.
6 “The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
din the north by the river Euphrates
kthey have stumbled and fallen.
7 “Who is this, lrising like the Nile,
like rivers mwhose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers mwhose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
9 nAdvance, O horses,
and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
men of Cush and oPut who handle the shield,
pmen of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10 qThat day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
ra day of vengeance,
sto avenge himself on his foes.
tThe sword shall devour and be sated
and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds ua sacrifice
vin the north country wby the river Euphrates.
11 xGo up to Gilead, and take xbalm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
ythere is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
zfor warrior has stumbled against warrior;
they have both fallen together.”
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:
14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in bMigdol;
proclaim in bMemphis and bTahpanhes;
say, c‘Stand ready and be prepared,
for dthe sword shall devour around you.’
15 Why are your mighty ones face down?
They do not stand1
because the Lord thrust them down.
16 He made many stumble, fand they fell,
and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
gbecause of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 Call the name of hPharaoh, king of Egypt,
‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’
18 i“As I live, declares the King,
jwhose name is the Lord of hosts,
like kTabor among the mountains
and like lCarmel by the sea, shall one come.
19 mPrepare yourselves baggage for exile,
O ninhabitants of Egypt!
For oMemphis shall become a waste,
a ruin, pwithout inhabitant.
20 “A beautiful qheifer is Egypt,
but a biting fly rfrom the north has come upon her.
21 Even her hired soldiers in her midst
are like sfattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
tthe time of their punishment.
22 “She makes ua sound like a serpent gliding away;
for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
vlike those who fell trees.
23 vThey shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
though it is impenetrable,
because wthey are more numerous than locusts;
they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
she shall be delivered into the hand of ra people from the north.”
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.
27 d“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
28 dFear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
eI will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”
Judgment on the Philistines
47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet fconcerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down gGaza.
2 “Thus says the Lord:
hBehold, waters are rising iout of the north,
hand shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow jthe land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
lat the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers mlook not back to their children,
so feeble are their hands,
4 because of the day that is coming to destroy
all fthe Philistines,
to cut off from nTyre and Sidon
every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
othe remnant of the coastland of pCaphtor.
5 qBaldness has come upon Gaza;
rAshkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
show long will you gash yourselves?
6 tAh, sword of the Lord!
How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
rest and be still!
7 How can it1 be quiet
uwhen the Lord has given it a charge?
Against vAshkelon and against the seashore
whe has appointed it.”
Judgment on Moab
48 xConcerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to yNebo, for it is laid waste!
zKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame aand broken down;
2 the renown of Moab is no more.
In bHeshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off cfrom being a nation!’
You also, O dMadmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3 “A voice! A cry from eHoronaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5 eFor at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;1
for eat the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressed cry2 of destruction.
6 Flee! Save yourselves!
You will be like fa juniper in the desert!
7 For, gbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and hChemosh ishall go into exile
with jhis priests and his officials.
8 kThe destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and lthe plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9 “Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.
10 m“Cursed is he who does nthe work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has osettled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his3 jars in pieces. 13 Then pMoab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as qthe house of Israel was ashamed of rBethel, their confidence.
14 “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15 The destroyer of sMoab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have tgone down to slaughter,
declares uthe King, uwhose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 vGrieve for him, all you who are around him,
and all who know his name;
say, w‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18 x“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of yDibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 zStand by the way zand watch,
O inhabitant of aAroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
vwail and cry!
Tell it beside bthe Arnon,
that sMoab is laid waste.
21 “Judgment has come upon cthe tableland, upon Holon, and dJahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and yDibon, and eNebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and fKiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and gBeth-meon, 24 and hKerioth, and iBozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 jThe horn of Moab is cut off, and khis arm is broken, declares the Lord.
26 l“Make him drunk, mbecause he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall lwallow in his vomit, nand he too shall be held in derision. 27 oWas not Israel a derision to you? pWas he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him qyou wagged your head?
28 r“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be slike the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 tWe have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
uhis boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31 vTherefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of wKir-hareseth I mourn.
32 More than for xJazer I weep for you,
aYour branches passed over the sea,
reached to the Sea of xJazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
the destroyer has fallen.
33 bGladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34 c“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to dHoronaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35 And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ethe high place and makes offerings to his god. 36 Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of fKir-hareseth. gTherefore the riches they gained have perished.
37 h“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. iOn all the hands are gashes, and jaround the waist is sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ka vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39 How it is broken! How they wail! lHow Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab mhas become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”
40 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, none shall fly swiftly like an eagle
oand spread his wings against Moab;
41 pthe cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
qThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of ra woman in her birth pains;
42 Moab shall be sdestroyed and be no longer a people,
because the magnified himself against the Lord.
43 uTerror, pit, and snare
are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
44 He who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
vFor I will bring these things upon Moab,
the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed wthe forehead of Moab,
the crown of wthe sons of tumult.
46 xWoe to you, O Moab!
The people of yChemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 zYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
