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

²“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them,

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

⁴Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.”

⁵But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods.

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

⁷Now then, this is what the LORD God of armies, the God of Israel says: “Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, to eliminate from yourselves man and woman, child and infant from among Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant,

⁸provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you are entering to reside, so that you may be eliminated and become a curse and a disgrace among all the nations of the earth?

⁹Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰Yet they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in My Law or My statutes, which I placed before you and before your fathers.” ’

¹¹“Therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to set My face against you for a disaster, even to eliminate all Judah.

¹²And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their minds on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or meet their end by famine. From the small to the great, they will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a disgrace.

¹³And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with plague.

¹⁴So there will be no survivor or refugee for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return to live; for none will return except a few refugees.’ ”

¹⁵Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶“As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!

¹⁷But we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off 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 met our end by the sword and by famine.”

¹⁹“And,” said the women, “when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image, and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying,

²¹“As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land, did the LORD not remember them, and did all of this not come into His mind?

²²So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; so your land has become a place of ruins, an object of horror, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day.

²³Since you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the LORD and not obeyed the voice of the LORD nor walked in His Law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this disaster has happened to you, as it has this day.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!

²⁵This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” By all means fulfill your vows, and be sure to perform your vows!’

²⁶In return, hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that My name shall never be invoked again by the mouth of anyone 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 people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword or by famine until they are completely gone.

²⁸Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs.

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

³⁰This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’ ”

¹This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch:

³‘You said, “Oh, woe to me! For the LORD has added grief to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’

⁴This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, what I have built I am going to tear down, and what I have planted I am going to uproot, that is, all the people of the land.”

⁵But as for you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the LORD, ‘but I will give your life to you as plunder in all the places where you may go.’ ”

¹That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

²To Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“Set up the buckler and shield, And advance to the battle!

⁴Harness the horses, And mount the steeds, Take your stand with helmets on! Polish the spears, Put on the coats of armor!

⁵Why have I seen it? They are terrified, They are retreating, And their warriors are defeated And have taken refuge in flight, Without facing back. Terror is on every side!” Declares the LORD.

⁶Let not the swift man flee, Nor the warrior escape. In the north beside the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.

⁷Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters surge?

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

⁹Go up, you horses, and drive wildly, you chariots, So that the warriors may march forward: Cush and Put, who handle the shield, And the Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of armies, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; And the sword will devour and be satisfied, And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of armies, In the land of the north at the river Euphrates.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, Virgin daughter of Egypt! You have used many remedies in vain; There is no healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame, And the earth is full of your cry of distress; For one warrior has stumbled over another, And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³This is the message which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’

¹⁵Why have your powerful ones been cut down? They do not stand because the LORD has thrust them away.

¹⁶They have repeatedly stumbled; Indeed, they have fallen, one against another. Then they said, ‘Get up, and let’s go back To our own people and our native land, Away from the sword of the oppressor!’

¹⁷They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!’

¹⁸As I live,” declares the King, Whose name is the LORD of armies, “One certainly shall come who is like Tabor among the mountains, Or like Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹Make your baggage ready for exile, Daughter living in Egypt, For Memphis will become a desolation; It will be destroyed and deprived of inhabitants.

²⁰Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

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

²²Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like an army And come to her as woodcutters with axes.

²³They have cut down her forest,” declares the LORD; “Certainly it will no longer be found, Even though they are more numerous than locusts And are without number.

²⁴The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame, Turned over to the power of the people of the north.”

²⁵The LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, indeed, Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

²⁶I shall hand them over to those who are seeking their lives, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to his officers. Afterward, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the LORD.

²⁷“But as for you, Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from far away, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making him afraid.

²⁸Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the LORD, “For I am with you. For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations Where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a complete destruction of you; But I will correct you properly And by no means leave you unpunished.”