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The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 44
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1 |
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,
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2 |
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,
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3 |
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.
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4 |
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.
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5 |
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their
wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
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6 |
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.
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7 |
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;
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8 |
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?
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9 |
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?
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10 |
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.
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11 |
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.
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12 |
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.
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13 |
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:
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14 |
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.
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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,
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16 |
As for the word that thou hast spoken
unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
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17 |
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.
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18 |
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.
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19 |
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?
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20 |
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,
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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?
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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.
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23 |
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.
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24 |
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:
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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.
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26 |
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.
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27 |
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.
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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 their's.
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29 |
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:
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30 |
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.
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