Jeremiah 44
Jeremiah Prophesies to
the Jews in Egypt |
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The word that came to Jeremiah concerning
all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at
Migdol, and at Tah'panhes, and at Noph, and in the country of
Pathros, saying,
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Thus 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;
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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 knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
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4 |
Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants
the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do
not this abominable thing that I hate.
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5 |
But they hearkened not, nor inclined
their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto
other gods.
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6 |
Wherefore 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.
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Therefore 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;
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in 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?
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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?
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10 |
They 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.
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11 |
Therefore 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.
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12 |
And 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.
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13 |
For 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:
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so 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.
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Then 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,
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16 |
As for the word that thou hast
spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will
not hearken unto thee.
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17 |
But 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.
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But 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.
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19 |
And 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?
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20 |
Then 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,
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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, did not the
LORD remember them, and came it not into
his mind?
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so 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.
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23 |
Because 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.
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24 |
Moreover 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:
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Thus 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.
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26 |
Therefore 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.
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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.
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28 |
Yet 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.
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29 |
And 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:
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30 |
Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I will give Pha'raoh-hoph'ra king of Egypt into the hand of
his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave
Zedeki'ah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of
Babylon, 2 Kgs. 25.1-7 his enemy, and that sought his life.
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