Israelites Will Be Punished in Egypt

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph,^[a] and in the country of Pathros, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, ³ because 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 did not know, they nor you nor your fathers. ⁴ However I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!” ⁵ But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods. ⁶ So My fury and My anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.’

⁷ “Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain, ⁸ in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to dwell, that you may cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, 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? ¹⁰ They have not been humbled, to this day, nor have they feared; they have not walked in My law or in My statutes that I set before you and your fathers.’

¹¹ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will set My face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah. ¹² And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach! ¹³ For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ¹⁴ so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and dwell. For none shall return except those who escape.’”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: ¹⁶ “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! ¹⁷ But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and 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. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense 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.”

¹⁹ The women also said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people—the men, the women, and all the people who had given him that answer—saying: ²¹ “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and did it not come into His mind? ²² So the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law, in His statutes or in His testimonies, therefore this calamity has happened to you, as at this day.”

²⁴ Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt! ²⁵ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, “We will surely keep our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows!’ ²⁶ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says 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 lives.” ²⁷ Behold, I will watch over them for adversity 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 there is an end to them. ²⁸ Yet a small number who escape the sword shall 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 dwell there, shall know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs. ²⁹ And this shall be a sign to you,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for adversity.’

³⁰ “Thus 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, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’”

Assurance to Baruch

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the instruction of Jeremiah,^[b] 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 now! For the Lord has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.”’

⁴ “Thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. ⁵ And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh,” says the Lord. “But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.”’”

Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations. ² Against Egypt.

Concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³ “Order the buckler and shield,And draw near to battle!⁴ Harness the horses,And mount up, you horsemen!Stand forth with your helmets,Polish the spears,Put on the armor!⁵ Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?Their mighty ones are beaten down;They have speedily fled,And did not look back,For fear was all around,” says the Lord.⁶ “Do not let the swift flee away,Nor the mighty man escape;They will stumble and fallToward the north, by the River Euphrates.

⁷ “Who is this coming up like a flood,Whose waters move like the rivers?⁸ Egypt rises up like a flood,And its waters move like the rivers;And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth,I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’⁹ Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!And let the mighty men come forth:The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield,And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.¹⁰ For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts,A day of vengeance,That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.The sword shall devour;It shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood;For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrificeIn the north country by the River Euphrates.

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and take balm,O virgin, the daughter of Egypt;In vain you will use many medicines;You shall not be cured.¹² The nations have heard of your shame,And your cry has filled the land;For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty;They both have fallen together.”

Babylonia Will Strike Egypt

¹³ The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;Proclaim in Noph^[c] and in Tahpanhes;Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves,For the sword devours all around you.’¹⁵ Why are your valiant men swept away?They did not standBecause the Lord drove them away.¹⁶ He made many fall;Yes, one fell upon another.And they said, ‘Arise!Let us go back to our own peopleAnd to the land of our nativityFrom the oppressing sword.’¹⁷ They cried there,‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.He has passed by the appointed time!’

¹⁸ “As I live,” says the King,Whose name is the Lord of hosts,“Surely as Tabor is among the mountainsAnd as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.¹⁹ O you daughter dwelling in Egypt,Prepare yourself to go into captivity!For Noph^[d] shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a very pretty heifer,But destruction comes, it comes from the north.²¹ Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls,For they also are turned back,They have fled away together.They did not stand,For the day of their calamity had come upon them,The time of their punishment.²² Her noise shall go like a serpent,For they shall march with an armyAnd come against her with axes,Like those who chop wood.

²³ “They shall cut down her forest,” says the Lord,“Though it cannot be searched,Because they are innumerable,And more numerous than grasshoppers.²⁴ The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;She shall be delivered into the handOf the people of the north.”

²⁵ The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on Amon^[c] of No,^[e] and Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶ And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. Afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the Lord.

God Will Preserve Israel

²⁷ “But do not fear, O My servant Jacob,And do not be dismayed, O Israel!For behold, I will save you from afar,And your offspring from the land of their captivity;Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease;No one shall make him afraid.²⁸ Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord,“For I am with you;For I will make a complete end of all the nationsTo which I have driven you,But I will not make a complete end of you.I will rightly correct you,For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”

Judgment on Philistia

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

² Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, waters rise out of the north,And shall be an overflowing flood;They shall overflow the land and all that is in it,The city and those who dwell within;Then the men shall cry,And all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.³ At the noise of the stamping hooves of his strong horses,At the rushing of his chariots,At the rumbling of his wheels,The fathers will not look back for their children,Lacking courage,⁴ Because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines,To cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains;For the Lord shall plunder the Philistines,The remnant of the country of Caphtor.⁵ Baldness has come upon Gaza,Ashkelon is cut offWith the remnant of their valley.How long will you cut yourself?

⁶ “O you sword of the Lord,How long until you are quiet?Put yourself up into your scabbard,Rest and be still!⁷ How can it be quiet,Seeing the Lord has given it a chargeAgainst Ashkelon and against the seashore?There He has appointed it.”

Judgment on Moab

48 Against Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to Nebo!For it is plundered,Kirjathaim is shamed and taken;The high stronghold^[g] is shamed and dismayed—² No more praise of Moab.In Heshbon they have devised evil against her:‘Come, and let us cut her off as a nation.’You also shall be cut down, O Madmen!^[h]The sword shall pursue you;³ A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim:‘Plundering and great destruction!’⁴ “Moab is destroyed;Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;^[i]5 For in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping;For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

⁶ “Flee, save your lives!And be like the juniper^[j] in the wilderness.⁷ For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures,You also shall be taken.And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity,His priests and his princes together.⁸ And the plunderer shall come against every city;No one shall escape.The valley also shall perish,And the plain shall be destroyed,As the Lord has spoken.

⁹ “Give wings to Moab,That she may flee and get away;For her cities shall be desolate,Without any to dwell in them.¹⁰ Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully,And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

¹¹ “Moab has been at ease from his^[k] youth;He has settled on his dregs,And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,Nor has he gone into captivity.Therefore his taste remained in him,And his scent has not changed.

¹² “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,“That I shall send him wine-workersWho will tip him overAnd empty his vesselsAnd break the bottles.¹³ Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh,As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴ “How can you say, ‘We are mightyAnd strong men for the war’?¹⁵ Moab is plundered and gone up from her cities;Her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King,Whose name is the Lord of hosts.

¹⁶ “The calamity of Moab is near at hand,And his affliction comes quickly.¹⁷ Bemoan him, all you who are around him;And all you who know his name,Say, ‘How the strong staff is broken,The beautiful rod!’

¹⁸ “O daughter inhabiting Dibon,Come down from your glory,And sit in thirst;For the plunderer of Moab has come against you,He has destroyed your strongholds.¹⁹ O inhabitant of Aroer,Stand by the way and watch;Ask him who fleesAnd her who escapes;Say, ‘What has happened?’²⁰ Moab is shamed, for he is broken down.Wail and cry!Tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered.

²¹ “And judgment has come on the plain country:On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath,²² On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,²³ On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,²⁴ On Kerioth and Bozrah,On all the cities of the land of Moab,Far or near.²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off,And his arm is broken,” says the Lord.

²⁶ “Make him drunk,Because he exalted himself against the Lord.Moab shall wallow in his vomit,And he shall also be in derision.²⁷ For was not Israel a derision to you?Was he found among thieves?For whenever you speak of him,You shake your head in scorn.²⁸ You who dwell in Moab,Leave the cities and dwell in the rock,And be like the dove which makes her nestIn the sides of the cave’s mouth.

²⁹ “We have heard the pride of Moab(He is exceedingly proud),Of his loftiness and arrogance and pride,And of the haughtiness of his heart.”

³⁰ “I know his wrath,” says the Lord,“But it is not right;His lies have made nothing right.³¹ Therefore I will wail for Moab,And I will cry out for all Moab;I^[l] will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.³² O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer.Your plants have gone over the sea,They reach to the sea of Jazer.The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage.³³ Joy and gladness are takenFrom the plentiful fieldAnd from the land of Moab;I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses;No one will tread with joyous shouting—Not joyous shouting!

³⁴ “From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh and to JahazThey have uttered their voice,From Zoar to Horonaim,Like a three-year-old heifer;^[m]For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

³⁵ “Moreover,” says the Lord,“I will cause to cease in MoabThe one who offers sacrifices in the high placesAnd burns incense to his gods.³⁶ Therefore My heart shall wail like flutes for Moab,And like flutes My heart shall wailFor the men of Kir Heres.Therefore the riches they have acquired have perished.

³⁷ “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped;On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth—³⁸ A general lamentationOn all the housetops of Moab,And in its streets;For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the Lord.³⁹ “They shall wail:‘How she is broken down!How Moab has turned her back with shame!’So Moab shall be a derisionAnd a dismay to all those about her.”

⁴⁰ For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, one shall fly like an eagle,And spread his wings over Moab.⁴¹ Kerioth is taken,And the strongholds are surprised;The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall beLike the heart of a woman in birth pangs.⁴² And Moab shall be destroyed as a people,Because he exalted himself against the Lord.⁴³ Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you,O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.⁴⁴ “He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit,And he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare.For upon Moab, upon it I will bringThe year of their punishment,” says the Lord.

⁴⁵ “Those who fled stood under the shadow of HeshbonBecause of exhaustion.But a fire shall come out of Heshbon,A flame from the midst of Sihon,And shall devour the brow of Moab,The crown of the head of the sons of tumult.⁴⁶ Woe to you, O Moab!The people of Chemosh perish;For your sons have been taken captive,And your daughters captive.⁴⁷ “Yet I will bring back the captives of MoabIn the latter days,” says the Lord.

Thus far is the judgment of Moab.