rsv Jeremiah:44:11-27 SEEK
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Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Behold ,
I will set my face against you for evil ,
to cut off all Judah .
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I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live ,
and they shall all be consumed ;
in the land of Egypt they shall fall ;
by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed ;
from the least to the greatest ,
they shall die by the sword and by famine ;
and they shall become an execration ,
a horror ,
a curse ,
and a taunt .
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I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt ,
as I have punished Jerusalem ,
with the sword ,
with famine ,
and with pestilence ,
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so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah ,
to which they desire to return to dwell there ;
for they shall not return ,
except some fugitives ."
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Then all the men who knew that their wives had offered incense to other gods ,
and all the women who stood by ,
a great assembly ,
all the people who dwelt in Pathros in the land of Egypt ,
answered Jeremiah :
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As for the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD ,
we will not listen to you .
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But we will do everything that we have vowed ,
burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her ,
as we did ,
both 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 prospered ,
and saw no evil .
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But since we left off burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her ,
we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine ."
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And the women said , "
When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out libations to her ,
was it without our husbands '
approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out libations to her ?"
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Then Jeremiah said to all the people ,
men and women ,
all the people who had given him this answer :
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As for 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 it ?
Did it not come into his mind ?
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The LORD could no longer bear your evil doings and the abominations which you committed ;
therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse ,
without inhabitant ,
as it is this day .
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It is because you burned incense ,
and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies ,
that this evil has befallen you ,
as at this day ."
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Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women , "
Hear the word of the LORD ,
all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt ,
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Thus says the LORD of hosts ,
the God of Israel :
You and your wives have declared with your mouths ,
and have fulfilled it with your hands ,
saying , `
We will surely perform our vows that we have made ,
to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out libations to her .'
Then confirm your vows and perform your vows !
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Therefore hear the word of the LORD ,
all you 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 invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt ,
saying , `
As the Lord GOD lives .'
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Behold ,
I am watching over them for evil and not for good ;
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 of them .