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¹ THE word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD to prophesy concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt: those who dwell at Migdol and at Tahpanhes and at Memphis and in the land of Pathros, saying,² Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the calamity that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are desolate, and no man dwells in them³ Because of the wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went and burned incense to other gods, whom they knew not, neither they nor their fathers.⁴ And I sent to them all my servants the prophets, in advance, saying. Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate.⁵ But they did not hearken nor incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.⁶ Therefore my fury and my anger were poured forth and a fire was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and an astonishment, as they are today.⁷ And now thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, the young and the little one out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;⁸ And thus have provoked me to anger with the works of your hands, and have burned incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have come to dwell, so that I may destroy you, and you shall become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?⁹ Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and the wickedness of the kings of Judah and the wickedness of their wives which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?¹⁰ They have not cleansed themselves even to this day, neither have they feared nor have they served me nor walked in my law nor in my statutes which I set before them and before their fathers.¹¹ Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil to destroy the whole house of Judah.¹² And I will crush the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to enter into the land of Egypt to live there, and they shall all be consumed in the land of Egypt; they shall die by sword and by famine and by pestilence; and they shall be an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach.¹³ For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence;¹⁴ So that none of the remnant of Judah, who are gone into the land of Egypt to live there shall escape or remain that they may return to the land of Judah to which they hope to return to dwell there; and only a few shall return.

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods and all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt and 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 every word that has gone forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven 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; for then we had plenty of food and were well and saw no evil.¹⁸ But since we left off burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her we have lacked everything and have been consumed by sword and by famine.¹⁹ And all the women said, When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, it was not without our husbands consent; nor without their knowledge did we make cakes for her and pour out drink offerings to her.

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women and to 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, it was that incense that the LORD has remembered, and it has come into his mind.²² So that the LORD could no longer forgive you because of your evil doings and because of the abomination which you have committed; therefore your land has become an astonishment and a curse and a desolation without an inhabitant, as it is this day.²³ It is because you have burned incense and because: you 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 has overtaken you, as it is this day.²⁴ Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, to men and women, Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt;²⁵ Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, 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 to her; you have surely confirmed your oaths and performed your vows.²⁶ Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you people of 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 men of Judah in all the land of Egypt, nor shall they say, The LORD God lives.²⁷ For I will hasten to bring evil upon them, says the LORD; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by sword and by famine and by pestilence until I annihilate them.²⁸ And of those who escape the sword a few shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah who are gone to the land of Egypt to dwell there shall know whose words shall 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 shall surely stand against you for evil.³⁰ Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh the Lame, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, who sought his life.