Jeremiah 44

This is the message that came to Jeremiah about all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Noph, and in the region of Pathros:

1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

NoteMigdol and Tahpanhes were towns in the north-eastern Nile delta, near Egypt's frontier; Noph is Memphis, just south of modern Cairo; Pathros means Upper Egypt, the southern stretch of the country. Together they cover Jewish settlements the whole length of Egypt. These Jews were refugees who had fled south after Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, taking Jeremiah with them against his advice (chapters 42-43).

2"The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie in ruins, and no one lives in them.

2Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,

Note"LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which Jewish tradition avoided pronouncing aloud. "LORD of Armies" (older versions: "LORD of hosts") pictures him as the commander of armies, heavenly and earthly. The disaster referred to is the Babylonian capture and burning of Jerusalem in 587/586 BC, within living memory of the people being addressed.

3This happened because of the evil they did. They made me angry by going off to burn incense and serve other gods, gods that they did not know, and neither did you or your ancestors.

3Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.

NoteBurning incense meant burning aromatic gum resin to produce fragrant smoke, a standard act of worship all over the ancient Near East. The Hebrew verb used here is broader than the English word suggests and can cover making offerings generally, not only incense.

4Yet I sent you all my servants the prophets. Again and again I sent them, saying, 'Please do not do this disgusting thing that I hate.'

4Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Note"Again and again I sent them" translates a Hebrew idiom that literally reads "rising early and sending" - the picture of someone getting up at dawn, day after day, to do something.

5But they did not listen and would not pay attention. They would not turn away from their evil or stop burning incense to other gods.

5But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

6So my fury and my anger were poured out, and they burned in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. That is how those places became the empty ruins they are today.

6Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.

7"So now the LORD God of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves? You are cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and nursing baby, leaving yourselves no one at all.

7Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;

8Why do you make me angry with the things your own hands have made, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live? You will cut yourselves off. You will become a name people use when they curse, and a shame among all the nations of the earth.

8In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

NoteTo "become a name people use when they curse" means their fate would become proverbial: someone wishing harm on an enemy would say "may you end up like them." The same idea appears in verses 12 and 22.

9Have you forgotten the evil your ancestors did, and the evil the kings of Judah did, and the evil their wives did? Have you forgotten your own evil, and the evil your wives did, in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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

10To this day they have not made themselves humble. They have shown no fear of me. They have not lived by my law or by the rules I set in front of you and your ancestors.

10They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.

Note"Law," "rules" and (in verse 23) "instructions" translate three overlapping Hebrew terms - torah, statutes, testimonies - for the body of instruction Israel understood as given through Moses. They are piled up here for weight rather than to distinguish three separate things.

11"So the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I am setting my face against you to bring disaster, and to cut off all of Judah.

11Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

Note"Set my face against" is an idiom for fixed, deliberate intent: turning to face someone with a settled purpose, here a hostile one.

12I will take the people of Judah who are left, the ones who were determined to go and live in the land of Egypt. They will all be finished off and will fall in Egypt. The sword and hunger will destroy them. From the least important to the greatest, they will die by the sword and by hunger. People will use their name in curses, will be horrified at them, and will insult and shame them.

12And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with hunger, and with disease.

13For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:

NoteSword, hunger and disease form a standard trio in Jeremiah for the ways people die in a war: killed in the fighting, starved during a siege, or carried off by the epidemics that follow both.

14So none of the people of Judah who are left, who went to live in the land of Egypt, will get away or survive to return to the land of Judah. They long to go back and live there, but no one will return except a few who escape."

14So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods answered Jeremiah. So did all the women standing there, a large crowd, along with all the people living in the land of Egypt, in Pathros. They said:

15Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

16"About the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD: we will not listen to you.

16As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.

17Instead, we will certainly do everything we said we would do. We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, just as we did before (we, our ancestors, our kings, and our officials) in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Back then we had plenty of food. We were well off, and we saw no trouble.

17But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

NoteThe Queen of Heaven was a goddess worshiped in Judah in Jeremiah's day, usually identified with the Mesopotamian Ishtar or the Canaanite Astarte - a figure associated with love, fertility, and the planet Venus. A drink offering (libation) meant pouring out wine or another liquid on the ground or an altar as a gift to a deity; it was a normal part of worship in the region, and was also offered to the God of Israel.

18But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and the sword and hunger have been destroying us."

18But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

19The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes shaped like her and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands knowing?"

19And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

NoteThe cakes were small baked loaves, probably pressed in a mold that carried the goddess's image or shape. The women's question about their husbands is a legal point, not a domestic one: under Israelite law (Numbers 30) a husband could cancel a vow his wife had made, so if he knew and said nothing, her vow stood - and he shared responsibility for it.

20Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, to the men, to the women, and to everyone who had answered him that way. He said:

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

21"The incense you burned in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem (you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land) did the LORD not remember it? Did it not come into his mind?

21The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?

Note"The people of the land" is a set term in these books for the free, land-owning citizens of Judah, as distinct from the king, his officials, and the priests.

22The LORD could not put up with it any longer, because of the evil you did and the disgusting things you practiced. That is why your land is now an empty ruin, a horror, and a name people use when they curse, with no one living in it, as it is today.

22So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

23This trouble has come to you, as you see today, because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD. You did not obey the LORD's voice, and you did not live by his law, his rules, or the instructions he gave."

23Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.

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

24Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

25The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: You and your wives said with your mouths what you then carried out with your hands. You said, 'We will certainly keep the promises we made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.' Very well, you will certainly carry out your promises; you will certainly do what you vowed.

25Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.

NoteA vow was a binding promise made to a deity, normally undertaking to give something in return for help; Israelite law treated a vow, once spoken, as a debt that had to be paid. Jeremiah's "Very well, you will certainly carry out your promises" is bitter irony: the Hebrew is a command - go ahead, then, keep your vows - daring them to find out what follows.

26But hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in the land of Egypt: I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that no man of Judah anywhere in Egypt will ever again speak my name in an oath, saying, 'As surely as the Lord GOD lives.'

26Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.

Note"As surely as the Lord GOD lives" was the standard opening formula of a solemn oath, the ancient equivalent of swearing on something unbreakable. In the printed form "Lord GOD," the small-capital GOD again marks the personal divine name. For that name to disappear from Judean mouths in Egypt means the community that used it will no longer be there to say it.

27I am watching over them to bring harm and not good. Every man of Judah in the land of Egypt will be destroyed by the sword and by hunger, until they are all gone.

27Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.

28Yet a small number will escape the sword and return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah. Then all the people of Judah who are left, who went to live in Egypt, will know whose word stands, mine or theirs.

28Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

NoteVerse 14 has already allowed for "a few who escape," and this is that handful. The Hebrew stresses how small the number is; their role in the sentence is to be witnesses back home to which side's words held.

29And this will be the sign to you, says the LORD, that I am going to punish you in this place. It will show you that my words of harm against you will surely stand.

29And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

NoteA "sign" here is a smaller, verifiable event given in advance to guarantee a larger prediction: when the first thing happens on schedule, you know the rest is coming. Verse 30 states what that sign is.

30The LORD says this: I am going to hand over Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, to his enemies, to those who want to kill him. This is like the way I handed over Zedekiah, king of Judah, to his enemy Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, who wanted to kill him."

30Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

NotePharaoh Hophra (known to Greek writers as Apries) ruled Egypt from about 589 to 570 BC. He lost his throne in an army revolt that put his own general Amasis in power, and was killed a few years afterwards. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah: when Jerusalem fell in 586 BC the Babylonians caught him fleeing, killed his sons in front of him, blinded him, and took him to Babylon. "Nebuchadrezzar" is Jeremiah's usual spelling of the name more often written Nebuchadnezzar, and is closer to the original Babylonian form.