Jeremiah 44

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

The word which came to Jeremiah about all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt, in Migdol and at Tahpanhes and at Noph and in the country of Pathros, saying,

2 Thus saith Jehovah 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 they are, this day, a waste, and no man dwelleth therein,

The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: You have seen all the evil which I have sent on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah; and now, this day they are waste and unpeopled;

3 because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods which they knew not, they, [nor] ye, nor your fathers.

Because of the evil which they have done, moving me to wrath by burning perfumes in worship to other gods, who were not their gods or yours or the gods of their fathers.

4 And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate!

And I sent all my servants the prophets to you, getting up early and sending them, saying, Do not do this disgusting thing which is hated by me.

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

But they gave no attention, and their ears were not open so that they might be turned from their evil-doing and from burning perfume to other gods.

6 And 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 become a waste, a desolation, as at this day.

Because of this, my passion and my wrath were let loose, burning in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are waste and unpeopled as at this day.

7 And now thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Wherefore commit ye great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remnant;

So now, the Lord, the God of armies, the God of Israel, has said, Why are you doing this great evil against yourselves, causing every man and woman, little child and baby at the breast among you in Judah to be cut off till not one is still living;

8 provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are come to sojourn, that ye should be cut off, and that ye should be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

Moving me to wrath with the work of your hands, burning perfumes to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to make a place for yourselves, so that you may become a curse and a name of shame among all the nations of the earth?

9 Have 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?

Have you no memory of the evil-doing of your fathers, and the evil-doing of the kings of Judah, and the evil-doing of their wives, and the evil which you yourselves have done, and the evil which your wives have done, in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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

Even to this day their hearts are not broken, and they have no fear, and have not gone in the way of my law or of my rules which I gave to you and to your fathers.

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

So this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, my face will be turned against you for evil, for the cutting off of all Judah;

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

And I will take the last of Judah, whose minds are fixed on going into the land of Egypt and stopping there, and they will all come to their end, falling in the land of Egypt by the sword and by being short of food and by disease; death will overtake them, from the least to the greatest, death by the sword and by need of food: they will become an oath and a cause of wonder and a curse and a name of shame.

13 And 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;

For I will send punishment on those who are living in the land of Egypt, as I have sent punishment on Jerusalem, by the sword and by need of food and by disease:

14 and none of the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah, whither they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.

So that not one of the rest of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt and are living there, will get away or keep his life, to come back to the land of Judah where they are hoping to come back and be living again: for not one will come back, but only those who are able to get away.

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

Then all the men who had knowledge that their wives were burning perfumes to other gods, and all the women who were present, a great meeting, answering Jeremiah, said,

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

As for the word which you have said to us in the name of the Lord, we will not give ear to you.

17 but we will certainly do every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to 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; and we had plenty of bread, and were well, and saw no evil.

But we will certainly do every word which has gone out of our mouths, burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her as we did, we and our fathers and our kings and our rulers, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then we had food enough and did well and saw no evil.

18 But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the heavens, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

But from the time when we gave up burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her, we have been in need of all things, and have been wasted by the sword and by need of food.

19 And when we burned incense to the queen of the heavens and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make for her cakes to portray her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?

And the women said, When we were burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes in her image and give her our drink offerings without the knowledge of our husbands?

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

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

21 Is it not the 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, that Jehovah remembered, and that came into his mind?

The perfumes which you have been burning in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers and your kings and your rulers and the people of the land, had the Lord no memory of them, and did he not keep them in mind?

22 And Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations that ye had committed; and your land is become a waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day.

And the Lord was no longer able to put up with the evil of your doings and the disgusting things you did; and because of this your land has become a waste and a cause of wonder and a curse, with no one living in it, as at this day.

23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil hath come upon you, as at this day.

Because you have been burning perfumes, and sinning against the Lord, and have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, or gone in the way of his law or his rules or his orders; for this reason this evil has come on you, as it is today.

24 And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt.

Further, Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, Give ear to the word of the Lord, all those of Judah who are living in Egypt:

25 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, We will certainly perform our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her. Ye will certainly establish your vows, and entirely perform your vows.

This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: You women have said with your mouths, and with your hands you have done what you said, We will certainly give effect to the oaths we have made, to have perfumes burned to the queen of heaven and drink offerings drained out to her: then give effect to your oaths and do them.

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

And now give ear to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: Truly, I have taken an oath by my great name, says the Lord, that my name is no longer to be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, By the life of the Lord God.

27 Behold, 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.

See, I am watching over them for evil and not for good: all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be wasted by the sword and by need of food till there is an end of them.

28 And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, a very small company; and all the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs.

And those who get away safe from the sword will come back from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, a very small number; and all the rest of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt and are living there, will see whose word has effect, mine or theirs.

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

And this will be the sign to you, says the Lord, that I will give you punishment in this place, so that you may see that my words will certainly have effect against you for evil:

30 thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra 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.

The Lord has said, See, I will give up Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of those who are fighting against him and desiring to take his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, his hater, who had designs against his life.