Jeremiah:44-46

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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 Tahpanhes , and at Noph , and in the country of Pathros , saying , * 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 , * 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 . * 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 . * But they hearkened not , nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness , to burn no incense unto other gods . * 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 . * 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 ; * 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 ? * 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 ? * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 : * 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 . * 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 , * As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD , we will not hearken unto thee . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 ? * 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 , * 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 ? * 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 . * 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 . * 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 : * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 : * Thus saith the LORD ; Behold , I will give Pharaohhophra 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 word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah , when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah , in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah , saying , * Thus saith the LORD , the God of Israel , unto thee , O Baruch ; * Thou didst say , Woe is me now ! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow ; I fainted in my sighing , and I find no rest . * Thus shalt thou say unto him , The LORD saith thus ; Behold , that which I have built will I break down , and that which I have planted I will pluck up , even this whole land . * And seekest thou great things for thyself ? seek them not : for , behold , I will bring evil upon all flesh , saith the LORD : but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest . * The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles ; * Against Egypt , against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt , which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish , which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah . * Order ye the buckler and shield , and draw near to battle . * Harness the horses ; and get up , ye horsemen , and stand forth with your helmets ; furbish the spears , and put on the brigandines . * Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back ? and their mighty ones are beaten down , and are fled apace , and look not back : for fear was round about , saith the LORD . * Let not the swift flee away , nor the mighty man escape ; they shall stumble , and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates . * Who is this that cometh up as a flood , whose waters are moved as the rivers ? * Egypt riseth up like a flood , and his waters are moved like the rivers ; and he saith , I will go up , and will cover the earth ; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof . * Come up , ye horses ; and rage , ye chariots ; and let the mighty men come forth ; the Ethiopians and the Libyans , that handle the shield ; and the Lydians , that handle and bend the bow . * For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts , a day of vengeance , that he may avenge him of his adversaries : and the sword shall devour , and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood : for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates . * Go up into Gilead , and take balm , O virgin , the daughter of Egypt : in vain shalt thou use many medicines ; for thou shalt not be cured . * The nations have heard of thy shame , and thy cry hath filled the land : for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty , and they are fallen both together . * The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet , how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt . * Declare ye in Egypt , and publish in Migdol , and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes : say ye , Stand fast , and prepare thee ; for the sword shall devour round about thee . * Why are thy valiant men swept away ? they stood not , because the LORD did drive them . * He made many to fall , yea , one fell upon another : and they said , Arise , and let us go again to our own people , and to the land of our nativity , from the oppressing sword . * They did cry there , Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise ; he hath passed the time appointed . * As I live , saith the King , whose name is the LORD of hosts , Surely as Tabor is among the mountains , and as Carmel by the sea , so shall he come . * O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt , furnish thyself to go into captivity : for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant . * Egypt is like a very fair heifer , but destruction cometh ; it cometh out of the north . * Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks ; for they also are turned back , and are fled away together : they did not stand , because the day of their calamity was come upon them , and the time of their visitation . * The voice thereof shall go like a serpent ; for they shall march with an army , and come against her with axes , as hewers of wood . * They shall cut down her forest , saith the LORD , though it cannot be searched ; because they are more than the grasshoppers , and are innumerable . * The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded ; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north . * The LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , saith ; Behold , I will punish the multitude of No , and Pharaoh , and Egypt , with their gods , and their kings ; even Pharaoh , and all them that trust in him : * And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives , and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon , and into the hand of his servants : and afterward it shall be inhabited , as in the days of old , saith the LORD . * But fear not thou , O my servant Jacob , and be not dismayed , O Israel : for , behold , I will save thee from afar off , and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return , and be in rest and at ease , and none shall make him afraid . * Fear thou not , O Jacob my servant , saith the LORD : for I am with thee ; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee : but I will not make a full end of thee , but correct thee in measure ; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished . * The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines , before that Pharaoh smote Gaza .

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