Jeremiah Chapter 44
1 The 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,
2 "The LORD 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. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them,
3 because 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.
4 However 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."
5 But they didn't listen and didn't incline their ear. They didn't turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods.
6 Therefore 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 today.'
7 "Therefore now the LORD, 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;
8 in 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 amongst 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, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 They 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.'
11 "Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.
12 I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, 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 the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;
14 so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will 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 will return except those who will escape.' "
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives burnt 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,
16 "As for the word that you have spoken to us in the LORD's name, we will not listen to you.
17 But 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.
18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19 "When we burnt 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?"
20 Then 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,
21 "The incense that you burnt 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 the LORD remember them, and didn't it come into his mind?
22 Thus the LORD could no longer bear it, 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 today.
23 Because you have burnt incense, and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the LORD's voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today."
24 Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, "Hear the LORD's word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!
25 The LORD 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.'
26 "Therefore hear the LORD's word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by my great name,' says the LORD, 'that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "As the Lord GOD lives."
27 Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone.
28 Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.
29 " 'This will be the sign to you,' says the LORD, 'that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.'
30 The LORD 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.' "
Footnotes
Version: World English Bible
- About World English Bible (WEB)
- WEB Glossary
- WEB Web Site (source documents)
- Bible on one web page
- Download WEB (for MS Word)
Audio
To Listen to this Chapter
The mp3 Audio File should start to play in a new Tab. Then return to this Tab to follow the text whilst listening.
Jeremiah Chapter 44 Guide
The next prophecy in Egypt was of a fiery protest against the persistent rebellion of the people of God. The prophet reminded them of the patience of God, and of how His anger had already been poured out on Jerusalem, and declared that the rebellious remnant which had found its way into Egypt would be wholly cut off.
This message was answered by a defiant and persistent declaration of rebellion, in which they misinterpreted their own history by declaring that all the evils that had befallen them resulted from attacks on idolatry, and deliberately declared their intention to continue their idolatrous practices.
This drew from Jeremiah his final prophecy, in which he answered their argument by declaring that their sorrows were the result of their idolatry rather than, as they affirmed, the result of turning from idols. He foretold the determined judgment of God, saying that they would be consumed, only a small remnant escaping from Egypt; and ended by announcing that the sign of Jehovah to them would be the defeat of Pharaoh-Hophra, and his being handed over to those who sought his life.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Jeremiah Chapter 44 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The Jews in Egypt persist in idolatry. -- (1-14)
- They refuse to reform. -- (15-19)
- Jeremiah then denounces destruction upon them. -- (20-30)
Verses 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.
Verses 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. All who worship images, or honour saints, and angels, and the queen of heaven, should recollect what came from the idolatrous practices of the Jews.
Verses 20-30
Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.