1The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt—those living in Migdol, in Tahpanhes, in Memphis, and in the land of Pathros—saying:
2Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: You yourselves have seen all the evil that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold, this very day they are a desolation, with no one living in them,
3because of their evil that they did to provoke me to anger, by going to burn incense and to serve other gods that they had not known—neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.
4Yet I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying: Do not do this abominable thing that I hate.
5But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their evil, so as to stop burning incense to other gods.
6So my wrath and my anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a ruin and a desolation, as at this day.
7And now, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why are you doing great evil against your own lives, so as to cut off from yourselves man and woman, child and nursling, from the midst of Judah, leaving yourselves no remnant—
8provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you are coming to sojourn, so as to cut yourselves off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Judah, and the evils of their wives, and your own evils, and the evils of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10To this day they have not been humbled, nor have they feared, nor have they walked in my law and in my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.
11Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am setting my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12And I will take the remnant of Judah who set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, 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, by the sword and by famine they shall die, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a reproach.
13And I will punish those living in the land of Egypt as I punished Jerusalem—by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
14And there shall be no fugitive or survivor for the remnant of Judah who came to sojourn there in the land of Egypt, so as to return to the land of Judah, to which they are lifting up their soul to return, to dwell there; for they shall not return, except a few fugitives.
15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by, a great assembly, and all the people living in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:
16As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh—we are not going to listen to you.
17Rather, we will surely do everything that has gone out of our mouth: to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we did—we and our fathers, our kings and our officials—in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of bread and were well off and saw no evil.
18But since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and been consumed by the sword and by famine.
19And the women said: When we burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, is it apart from our husbands that we make cakes for her, shaping her image, and pour out drink offerings to her?
20Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, to the men and to the women and to all the people who had answered him a word, 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 officials and the people of the land—was it not this that Yahweh remembered, and it came up into his mind?
22And Yahweh could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations that you did; so your land became a ruin and a horror and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day.
23Because you burned incense and because you sinned against Yahweh and did not obey the voice of Yahweh, and did not walk in his law, his statutes, and his testimonies—therefore this evil has befallen you, as at this day.
24And Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women: Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt.
25Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it 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.’ Then confirm your vows and surely perform your vows!
26Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says Yahweh, that my name shall no longer be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord Yahweh lives.’
27Behold, I am watching over them for evil and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until they come to an end.
28And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah who came to the land of Egypt to sojourn there shall know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.
29And this shall be the sign to you, declares Yahweh, that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil:
30Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am giving Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those seeking his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.
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