Jeremiah

those who have gone to live in Egypt. I will
use war, hunger, and disease to punish them.
I will punish them just as I punished the city
of Jerusalem. 14Not one of the few survivors
of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will
escape my punishment. None of them will
survive to come back to Judah. They want to
come back to Judah and live there. But not
one of them will go back to Judah, except a
few people who escape.’”
15There were many people from Judah living
in southern Egypt. Many of the women
from Judah were meeting together in a large
group and making sacrifices to other gods,
and their husbands knew what they were
doing. Those men said to Jeremiah, 16“We
will not listen to the message from the Lord
that you spoke to us. 17We promised to make
sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven,* and we
will do everything we promised. We will
offer sacrifices and pour out drink offerings
in worship to her. We did that in the past.
Our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did
that in the past. All of us did those things
in the towns of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem. When we worshiped the Queen of
Heaven, we had plenty of food. We were successful.
Nothing bad happened to us. 18But
then we stopped making sacrifices to the
Queen of Heaven, and we stopped pouring
out drink offerings to her. And we have had
problems ever since we stopped worshiping
her. Our people have been killed by war and
hunger.”
19Then the women spoke upa and said
to Jeremiah, “Our husbands knew what we
were doing. We had their permission to make
sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven. We had
their permission to pour out drink offerings
to her. Our husbands also knew that we were
making cakes that looked like her.”
20Then Jeremiah spoke to all the men and
women who told him these things. 21He said,
“The Lord remembered that you made sacrifices
in the towns of Judah and in the streets
of Jerusalem. You and your ancestors, your
kings, your officials, and the people of the
land did that. He remembered what you had
done and thought about it. 22The Lord hated
the terrible things you did, and he could not
be patient with you any longer. So he made
your country an empty desert. No one lives
there now. Other people say bad things about
that country. 23The reason all those bad
things happened to you is because you made
sacrifices to other gods. You sinned against
the Lord. You didn’t obey him or follow his
teachings or the laws he gave you. You didn’t
keep your part of the agreement. b”
JEREMIAH 44:14
a 44:19 Then the women spoke up This is from the
ancient Greek version.
b 44:23 agreement This probably means the Law of
Moses, the commands and agreement God made
with the Israelites.
644
24Then Jeremiah spoke to all the men and
women. He said, “All you people of Judah
who are now in Egypt, listen to this message
from the Lord. 25This is what the Lord
All- Powerful, the God of the people of Israel,
says: ‘You women did what you said you
would do. You said, “We will keep the promises
we made. We promised to make sacrifices
and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of
Heaven.” So go ahead. Do what you promised
you would do. Keep your promises.’ 26But
listen to this message from the Lord, all you
people of Judah who are living in Egypt: ‘I
use my own great name to make this promise:
None of the people of Judah who are now
living in Egypt will ever again use my name
to make promises. They will never again say,
“As surely as the Lord God lives ….” 27I am
watching over the people of Judah, but I am
not watching over them to take care of them.
I am watching over them to bring them harm.
The people of Judah who live in Egypt will die
from hunger or be killed in war until they are
completely destroyed. 28Some people of Judah
will escape being killed by the sword. They
will come back to Judah from Egypt. But only
a few people of Judah will escape. Then the
survivors* of Judah who came to live in Egypt
will know whose word proves to be true. They
will know whether it was my word or their
word that came true. 29I will give you people
proof,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will punish you
here in Egypt. Then you will know for sure
that my promises to harm you will really happen.
30This will be your proof that I will do
what I say.’ This is what the Lord says: ‘Pharaoh
Hophra is the king of Egypt. His enemies
want to kill him. I will give Pharaoh Hophra
to his enemies. Just as I gave Zedekiah king of
Judah to his enemy Nebuchadnezzar, in the
same way I will give Pharaoh Hophra to his
enemies.’”
A Message to Baruch
45 1In the fourth year that Jehoiakimc son of Josiah was king of Judah, Jeremiah
the prophet* spoke these things to
Baruch son of Neriah. Baruch wrote them
on a scroll.* This is what Jeremiah said to
Baruch: 2“This is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says to you: 3‘Baruch, you have said,
“It is very bad for me. The Lord has given me
sorrow along with my pain. I am very tired. I
am worn out because of my suffering. I cannot
find rest.” 4Jeremiah, tell Baruch that this
is what the Lord says: I will tear down what
I have built, and I will pull up what I have
planted. I will do that everywhere in Judah.
5Baruch, you are looking for great things for
yourself. Don’t look for them, because I will
make terrible things happen to all the people.’
This is what the Lord said. ‘You will have to
c 45:1 the fourth year … Jehoiakim This was about
605 b.c.