Book Order Plan

¹The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,

²"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'You have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and see, this day they are desolated and no one lives in them

³because of the wickedness which they committed, provoking Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and incense to serve other gods that they had not known, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.

⁴Yet I sent to you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, "Oh, do not do this shamefully vile thing which I hate."

⁵But they did not listen or turn [obediently] from their wickedness, and stop burning sacrifices and incense to other gods.

⁶Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; so they have become a ruin and a desolation, as it is this day.

⁷Therefore now thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, "Why did you commit this great evil against yourselves [bringing disaster] that will cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant?

⁸Why do you [deliberately] provoke Me to anger with the works (idols) of your hands, burning sacrifices and incense to [make-believe] gods in the land of Egypt, where you [of your own accord] have come to live [as temporary residents], that you might be cut off and become a curse and a disgrace [an object of taunts] among all the nations of the earth?

⁹Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives [who served their foreign gods], your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives [who imitated the sin of the queens], which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰They have not become apologetic [for their guilt and sin] even to this day; they have not feared [Me with reverence] nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers."'

¹¹"Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am going to set My face against you for woe—even to cut off (destroy) all Judah [from the land].

¹²And I will take the remnant of Judah who have decided to go into the land of Egypt to live there [instead of surrendering to the Chaldeans as directed], and they will all fall and die in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or perish by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword or by famine; and they will become detestable, an object of horror, a curse, and a disgrace.

¹³For I will punish all the inhabitants of the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with virulent disease;

¹⁴so none of the survivors from the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to live there will survive, even though they lift up their souls in longing to return to the land of Judah, [the place] to which they long to return to live; none will return except a few refugees.'"

¹⁵Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing by, a large group, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶"As for the word (message) that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you.

¹⁷But rather we will certainly perform every word of the vows we have made: to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for [then] we had plenty of food and were prosperous and saw no misfortune.

¹⁸But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine."

¹⁹And said the wives, "When we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without [the knowledge and approval of] our husbands that we made cakes [in the shape of a star] to represent her and pour out drink offerings to her?"

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women and to all the people who had given him that answer,

²¹"The smoking sacrifices (incense) that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land—did not the LORD remember [in detail your idolatry] and did it not all come into His mind?

²²The LORD could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your acts and the repulsive acts which you have committed; because of them your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

²³Because you have burned sacrifices [to idols] and because you have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD or walked in His law and in His statutes and in His testimonies, therefore this tragedy has fallen on you, as it has this day."

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all [you of] Judah who are in the land of Egypt,

²⁵thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: 'You and your wives have both declared with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand, saying, "We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her." Surely then confirm your vows and go ahead and perform your vows! [If you intend to defy all My warnings, proceed!]'

²⁶Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all [you people of] Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, 'Behold, I have sworn [an oath] by My great Name,' says the LORD, 'that My Name shall never again be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "As the Lord GOD lives."

²⁷Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine until they are all destroyed.

²⁸Yet a small number [of My choosing] who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs.

²⁹And this will be the sign to you,' says the LORD, 'that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.'

³⁰Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.'"

¹The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

²"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch:

³'You said, "Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and sighing and I find no rest."'

⁴Say this to him, 'The LORD speaks in this way, "Behold, what I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will uproot, that is, the whole land."

⁵And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring disaster on all flesh,' says the LORD, 'but I will give your life to you [as your only reward and] as a prize of war wherever you go.'"

¹The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the [Gentile] nations.

²Concerning Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated [decisively] in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³"Line up the buckler (small shield) and [large] shield, And advance for battle!

⁴"Harness the horses, And mount, you riders! Take your stand with your helmets! Polish the spears, Put on the coats of mail!

⁵"Why have I seen it? They are terrified And have turned back, And their warriors are beaten down. They take flight in haste Without looking back; Terror is on every side!" Says the LORD.

⁶Do not let the swift man run, Nor the mighty man escape; In the north by the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.

⁷Who is this that rises up like the Nile [River], Like the rivers [in the delta of Egypt] whose waters surge about?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters surge about. And He has said, "I will rise, I will cover that land; I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants."

⁹Charge, you horses, And drive like madmen, you chariots! Let the warriors go forward: Ethiopia and Put (Libya) who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering] In the north country by the river Euphrates.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and obtain [healing] balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you use many medicines; For you there is no healing or remedy.

¹²The nations have heard of your disgrace and shame, And your cry [of distress] has filled the earth. For warrior has stumbled against warrior, And both of them have fallen together.

¹³The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴"Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, And proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes; Say, 'Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.'

¹⁵"Why have your strong ones been cut down? They do not stand because the LORD drove them away.

¹⁶"He will make many stumble and fall; Yes, they have fallen one on another. Then they said, 'Arise, and let us go back To our own people and to the land of our birth, Away from the sword of the oppressor.'

¹⁷"They cried there, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise; He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!'

¹⁸"As I live," says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts, "Surely like Tabor among the mountains Or like Carmel by the sea, So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come.

¹⁹"O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her, Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile, For Memphis will become desolate; It will even be burned down and without inhabitant.

²⁰"Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north!

²¹"Also her mercenaries in her army Are like fattened calves, For they too have turned back and have fled together; They did not stand [their ground], Because the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment.

²²"The sound [of Egypt fleeing from the enemy] is like [the rustling of] an escaping serpent, For her foes advance with a mighty army And come against her like woodcutters with axes.

²³"They have cut down her forest," says the LORD; "Certainly it will no longer be found, Because they (the invaders) are more numerous than locusts And cannot be counted.

²⁴"The Daughter of Egypt has been shamed, Given over to the power of the people of the north [the Chaldeans of Babylonia]."

²⁵The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I am going to punish Amon [chief god of the sacred city] of Thebes [the capital of Upper Egypt], and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him [as a shield against Babylon].

²⁶I will put them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. Afterward Egypt will be inhabited as in the days of old," says the LORD.

²⁷"But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from [your captivity in] a distant land, And your descendants from the land of their exile; And Jacob will return and be quiet and secure, And no one will make him afraid.

²⁸"Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD, "For I am with you. For I will make a full and complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you; Yet I will not make a full end of you. But I will discipline and correct you appropriately And by no means will I declare you guiltless or leave you unpunished."