Jeremiah 44

ENGWEBEnglish30 verses

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

2Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,

3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods, that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.

4However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.

5But they didn’t listen, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.

6Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.

7Therefore now Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining;

8in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9Have you 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 committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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

11Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.

12I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live 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; they shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an object of horror, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;

14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for no one shall return save such as shall escape.

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

16As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you.

17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, 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 had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

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

19When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?

20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying,

21The 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, didn’t Yahweh remember them, and didn’t it come into his mind?

22so that Yahweh could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

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

24Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt:

25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.

26Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says Yahweh, 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 Yahweh lives.

27Behold, I watch over them for evil, 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 the famine, until they are all gone.

28Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

29This shall be the sign to you, says Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

30Yahweh says, 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, who was his enemy, and sought his life.

Commentary

44:1-14 God reminds the Jews of the sins that brought desolations upon Judah. It becomes us to warn men of the danger of sin with all seriousness: Oh, do not do it! If you love God, do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls, do not, for it is destructive to them. Let conscience do this for us in the hour of temptation. The Jews whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, were there, by the power of God's grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went by their own perverse will into the land of the Egyptians, were there more attached than ever to their idolatries. When we thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is just with God to leave us to ourselves. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. The most awful miseries to which men are exposed, are occasioned by the neglect of offered salvation.

44:1 At Migdol - It seems the Jews that went into Egypt had planted themselves at these four places. Migdol was a city upon the borders of the Red Sea. Noph was a city, which the Greeks and Latines called Memphis; it is thought to be that, which is now called Cairo. Pathros was the province, since called Thebais.

8. in … Egypt—where they polluted themselves to ingratiate themselves with the Egyptians.ye be gone—not compelled by fear, but of your own accord, when I forbade you, and when it was free to you to stay in Judea.that ye might cut yourselves off—They, as it were, purposely courted their own ruin.

10. They … you—The third person puts them to a distance from God on account of their alienating themselves from Him. The second person implies that God formerly had directly addressed them.humbled—literally, "contrite" (Ps 51:17).neither … feared—(Pr 28:14).

14. none … shall escape … that they should return, &c.—The Jews had gone to Egypt with the idea that a return to Judea, which they thought hopeless to their brethren in Babylon, would be an easy matter to themselves in Egypt: the exact reverse should happen in the case of each respectively. The Jews whom God sent to Babylon were there weaned from idolatry, and were restored; those who went to Egypt by their perverse will were hardened in idolatry, and perished there.have a desire—literally, "lift up (their) soul," that is, their hopes (compare Jer 22:27, Margin; De 24:15, Margin).none shall return but such as shall escape—namely, the "small number" (Jer 44:28) who were brought by force into Egypt, as Jeremiah and Baruch, and those who, in accordance with Jeremiah's advice, should flee from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans (see on [967]Jer 42:17). Calvin less probably refers the words to the return of the exiles in Babylon, which the Jews in Egypt regarded as hopeless.

44:15-19 These daring sinners do not attempt excuses, but declare they will do that which is forbidden. Those who disobey God, commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here is the real language of the rebellious heart. Even the afflictions which should have parted them from their sins, were taken so as to confirm them in their sins. It is sad when those who should quicken each other to what is good, and so help one another to heaven, harden each other in sin, and so ripen one another for hell. To mingle idolatry with Divine worship, and to reject the mediation of Christ, are provoking to God, and ruinous to men.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG በግብፅ ምድር በሚግዶልና በጣፍናስ በሜምፎስም በጳትሮስም አገር ስለ ተቀመጡ አይሁድ ሁሉ ወደ ኤርምያስ የመጣ ቃል ይህ ነው። አማርኛ ENGNIV This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt–in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis– and in Upper… English BCV እግዚኣብሄር ብዛዕባ እቶም ኣብ ሃገር ግብፂ ዝነበሩ፥ ብዛዕባ እቶም ኣብ ከተማታት ሚግዶል፥ ጣፍናስ፥ ሜምፎስ፥ ጳትሮስ ተቐሚጦም ዝነበሩ ኣይሁድ ናብ ኤርሚያስ ዝመፀ ቓል እዙይ እዩ፦ ትግርኛ GAZBIB Waa'ee Yihudoota warra biyya Gibxii keessa mandara Miigdol, Taahafenee, Nofii fi Phaaxros keessa jiraatan hundumaaf dub… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ቃል ዘኮነ ኀበ ኤርምያስ እምኀበ እግዚአብሔር ከመ ይትነበይ ወኀበ ኵሎሙ አይሁድ እለ ይነብሩ ውስተ ግብፅ ወእለ ይነብሩ ውስተ ጣፍናስ ወመግደሎ ወውስተ ሜምፎስ ወውስተ ምድር ፋቱራ፤ giz GAZGAZ Waa'ee Yihudoota warra biyya Gibxii keessa mandara Miigdol, Taahafenee, Nofii fi Phaaxros keessa jiraatan hundumaaf dub… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum እግዚኣብሄር ብዛዕባ እቶም ኣብ ሃገር ግብፂ ዝነበሩ፥ ብዛዕባ እቶም ኣብ ከተማታት ሚግዶል፥ ጣፍናስ፥ ሜምፎስ፥ ጳትሮስ ተቐሚጦም ዝነበሩ ኣይሁድ ናብ ኤርሚያስ ዝመፀ ቓል እዙይ እዩ፦ ትግርኛ AMHNIV በግብፅ ሰሜናዊ ክፍል በሚግዶል፣ በጣፍናስና በሜምፎስ እንዲሁም በግብፅ ደቡባዊ ክፍል ስለሚኖሩት የአይሁድ ሕዝብ እንዲህ የሚል ቃል ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ወደ ኤርምያስ መጣ፤ አማርኛ