Jeremiah 44 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

The message that came to Jeremiah for all the Judean people living in Egypt — those settled in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and throughout Upper Egypt:

"This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel's armies, says: You saw everything I brought down on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Look at them today — ruins, with no one living in them."

"This happened because of the corrupt things they did that provoked me — going off to burn incense and serve other gods that neither they, nor you, nor your ancestors had ever known."

"I sent you all my servants the prophets, again and again, saying, 'Don't do this disgusting thing that I despise.'"

"But they didn't listen. They didn't pay any attention. They didn't turn away from their corruption or stop burning incense to other gods."

"So my furious anger poured out. It blazed through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they became the ruined wasteland they are today."

"So now, this is what Yahweh, the God of armies, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such terrible damage to yourselves? You're cutting off from Judah every man, woman, child, and infant — leaving yourselves with no one at all left."

"You're provoking me with the things your hands make, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you've come to live. You're going to get yourselves cut off and become a curse-word and an insult among all the nations on earth."

"Have you forgotten the corruption of your ancestors? The corruption of the kings of Judah? The corruption of their wives? Your own corruption? The corruption of your wives? All of it committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?"

"To this day they have not been humbled. They have not shown any fear or followed my instructions — the teachings I set in front of you and your ancestors."

"So this is what Yahweh, the God of armies, the God of Israel, says: Watch — I am setting my face against you to bring disaster, to cut off all of Judah."

"I will take the remnant of Judah — the ones who were determined to go to Egypt and settle there — and they will all meet their end. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will meet their end by the sword and by famine — from the least to the greatest, they will die by sword and famine. They will become an object of horror, a curse-word, an insult."

"I will punish those living in Egypt the same way I punished Jerusalem — by sword, famine, and plague."

"None of the remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah. They long to go back and live there, but none will return — except a few refugees."

Then all the men who knew their wives had been burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing there — a huge crowd — along with all the people living in Upper Egypt, answered Jeremiah:

"As for the message you just spoke to us in Yahweh's name — we're not going to listen to you."

"We are absolutely going to do everything we said we would — burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, exactly like we used to do, along with our ancestors, our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Back then we had plenty of food, we were doing well, and nothing bad happened to us."

"But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we've been short of everything, and we've been destroyed by sword and famine."

"And when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her — did we make those cakes shaped in her image and pour out offerings to her without our husbands knowing about it?"

Then Jeremiah said to all the people — the men and women, everyone who had given him that answer:

"That incense you burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem — you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the common people — don't you think Yahweh remembered it? Don't you think it came to his attention?"

"Yahweh could no longer endure the corrupt things you were doing — the disgusting things you were doing. That is why your land became a wasteland, a horror, a curse-word — with no one living in it — just as it is today."

"It is because you burned that incense, because you failed Yahweh and did not follow his instructions, his teachings, and his warnings — that is why this disaster has hit you, as you can see today."

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women: "Listen to the word of Yahweh, all you people of Judah in Egypt."

"This is what Yahweh, the God of armies, the God of Israel, says: 'You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and carried it out with your hands, saying, "We will absolutely keep our vows — burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her." Fine. Go ahead and keep your vows. Go ahead and carry them out.'"

"But listen to the word of Yahweh, all you Judeans living in the land of Egypt: 'I swear by my own great name,' says Yahweh, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or say, "As the Lord Yahweh lives."'"

"'Watch — I am keeping my eye on them, but for harm, not for good. Every person from Judah in the land of Egypt will be finished off by sword and famine until they are completely gone.'"

"Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to the land of Judah — but only a tiny number. Then the whole remnant of Judah that came to live in Egypt will find out whose word stands — mine or theirs."

"'And this will be the sign for you,' declares Yahweh, 'that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you will know that my words against you will absolutely stand:'"

"This is what Yahweh says: 'Watch — I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who want him dead, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who wanted him dead.'"