Jeremiah Chapter 44
Showing all 30 verses for Jeremiah Chapter 44.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"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, "
"This message from God came to Jeremiah, addressed to all the Jewish refugees now living scattered across Egypt - in the towns of Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the southern region of Pathros."
I speak to you wherever you've scattered, not just in the good times. Wherever you've run to hide from consequences, I still see you and still care enough to speak.
"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, "
"This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies, Israel's God, says: You have seen with your own eyes all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem and every town in Judah - today they lie in ruins, empty, with no one living there."
I don't ask you to believe things blindly - look honestly at the consequences already in front of you before repeating the same choices. Denial of what you've already seen is the first step back into old harm.
"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. "
"It happened because of the evil they did to provoke my anger - going to burn incense and serve other gods that neither they, nor you, nor your ancestors ever really knew."
Chasing after things that promise power or comfort but that you don't actually understand or have a real relationship with will hollow you out. I want you rooted in something real, not gambling your life on borrowed gods.
"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. "
"Yet I kept sending my servants the prophets to you again and again, urging, "Please don't do this disgusting thing that I hate.""
I keep showing up, again and again, even when you ignore me, because I'd rather you turn around than face what's coming. Persistence in love isn't weakness - it's how much I want good for you.
"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. "
"But they wouldn't listen or pay attention; they refused to turn from their wickedness and stop burning incense to other gods."
I never force your hand - the choice to listen or not is always genuinely yours, and I respect that even when it costs you dearly. Freedom to ignore warnings is real freedom, which is why warnings matter so much.
"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. "
"So my fury and anger poured out and burned through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, leaving them ruined and desolate, just as they are today."
Ignored patterns don't just disappear - they build until they break something. I'd rather you deal with what's wrong in you early, gently, than let it explode later.
"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; "
"So now, this is what the LORD, the God of Heaven's Armies, Israel's God says: Why are you doing this terrible harm to yourselves - wiping out man and woman, child and baby from Judah, leaving nothing left?"
The harm you do by clinging to what's destroying you doesn't just touch you - it touches everyone who depends on you, especially the vulnerable. I ask you to see clearly who really pays for your choices.
"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? "
"You provoke me to anger with what your own hands have made, burning incense to other gods here in Egypt where you've come to live - so that you cut yourselves off and make yourselves an object of cursing and mockery among every nation on earth."
Running to a new place doesn't heal what's broken inside you if you bring the same habits with you. Real change means dealing with the root, not just the scenery.
"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? "
"Have you forgotten the wickedness of your ancestors, the wickedness of Judah's kings and their wives, and your own wickedness and your wives' wickedness, committed in Judah and in Jerusalem's streets?"
Honest memory protects you from repeating pain. I don't ask you to wallow in guilt, but I do ask you to remember truthfully so you don't sleepwalk back into the same mistakes.
"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. "
"To this very day they haven't humbled themselves or shown any reverence, nor have they lived by my law and my decrees that I set before you and your ancestors."
Pain alone doesn't fix us - it's what we choose to do with it that matters. I'm not interested in you merely surviving hardship; I want it to soften and humble you, not just scar you.
"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. "
"Therefore, this is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies, Israel's God, says: I am setting my face against you for disaster, to cut off all of Judah."
Consequences that follow years of ignored warnings aren't cruelty - they're the natural end of a road freely chosen and walked over and over. I still want you to turn before you reach the end of that road.
"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. "
"I will take the remaining people of Judah who set their minds on going to live in Egypt, and they will all be destroyed there, falling by war and famine - dying, from the least important to the greatest, and becoming an object of horror, cursing, and mockery."
The place you flee to for safety can't save you from what you're still carrying inside. Real safety isn't a location - it's the state of your heart and your relationship with what's true.
"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: "
"I will punish those living in Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem - with war, famine, and disease."
Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If the pattern that hurt you hasn't changed, a new address won't be the fix you're hoping for.
"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. "
"None of the remaining people of Judah who went to settle in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, which they long to go back to - none will return except a few who manage to escape."
Sometimes I have to be honest with you about consequences you don't want to hear, because false hope keeps you stuck in denial instead of facing what's really true and dealing with it.
"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 in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"Then all the men who knew their wives had been burning incense to other gods, along with all the women standing there - a huge crowd, essentially everyone living in Pathros, in southern Egypt - answered Jeremiah,"
Sometimes the crowd around you is united in the wrong direction. I never measure truth by how many people agree with it - popularity isn't the same as being right.
"As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. "
"As for the message you've given us in the LORD's name - we will not listen to you."
I won't force anyone to listen to me. Even when I speak clearly through people who love you, you're free to say no - but I want you to know that door stays open for you to change your mind.
"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. "
"Instead, we will keep doing exactly what we've decided for ourselves - burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Back then we had plenty of food, we were well off, and we saw no trouble."
Just because something felt good for a while doesn't mean it was good for you - some things borrow against your future to pay out comfort now. I want you to judge a path by where it actually leads, not by how it felt in one season.
"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. "
"But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and been destroyed by war and famine."
Be careful what you blame for your pain - sometimes people point at the very thing that was starting to heal them and call it the wound. I ask you to look deeper than the last thing that changed before things got hard.
"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? "
"And besides, the women added: when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes shaped like her to worship her, and pour out offerings, without our husbands knowing and approving?"
Something being normal or done in the open with everyone's approval doesn't make it right. I ask you to examine what's become "just how things are done" around you, not assume it's fine because no one objects.
"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, "
"Then Jeremiah replied to all the people, to the men and women, everyone who had given him that answer, saying:"
I don't shy away from hard conversations just because I know people won't listen. Speaking the truth in love matters even when the outcome isn't guaranteed - it's an act of respect, not futility.
"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? "
"The incense you and your ancestors, your kings and officials, and all the common people burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem - didn't the LORD remember it? Wasn't it right there in his mind?"
I see everything, including the things that seem to "get away with it" for a while. Just because consequences are delayed doesn't mean I've forgotten or that they aren't coming - patience isn't the same as approval.
"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. "
"So the LORD couldn't bear it any longer, because of the evil things you did and the disgusting practices you committed - that's why your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and cursing, with no one living there, just as it is today."
Patience has a purpose, not an infinite supply for its own sake - it exists to give room to change. I want you to use the time patience gives you, not treat it as proof nothing bad will ever come.
"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. "
"Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD, and didn't obey his voice or live by his law, his decrees, and his covenant requirements - that is why this disaster has come upon you, exactly as it has today."
I repeat important truths because I know how easily people talk themselves out of them. Take seriously the connection between what you choose and what follows - it isn't random, even when it's delayed.
"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: "
"Then Jeremiah said further to all the people, and specifically to the women: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt."
I address you specifically, by name, in your particular circumstances - not as a faceless crowd. Whatever your role in a situation, my word is for you personally, not just for others.
"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. "
"This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies, Israel's God, says: You and your wives have said with your mouths and done with your hands exactly what you vowed - to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her. Go ahead, then - keep your vows, carry them out fully!"
Sometimes love means letting you have exactly what you insist on, so you can see for yourself where it leads. I don't always block a chosen path - sometimes the most loving thing is to let the consequences teach what words couldn't.
"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. "
"But hear the word of the LORD, all you Judeans living in Egypt: I have sworn by my own great name, says the LORD, that my name will never again be spoken by anyone from Judah anywhere in Egypt, in the phrase "as the Lord GOD lives.""
Persistent refusal has real weight - relationship isn't just words, it's something that can be walked away from until it's genuinely gone. I want you to know that walking away has consequences, precisely because the relationship is real, not just a formality.
"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. "
"Watch: I am keeping watch over them, but for harm and not for good. Every man of Judah living in Egypt will be destroyed by war and famine until they are completely wiped out."
The same attention I give you can feel very different depending on the direction you're walking. I'd rather my closeness to you feel like protection than consequence - the choice of which one you experience is often yours to make.
"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 theirs. "
"Yet a small number who escape the sword will return from Egypt to the land of Judah. Then all the remaining people of Judah who went to live in Egypt will know whose words held true - mine, or theirs."
I don't need many witnesses to prove what's true - even a few honest survivors of a hard lesson can carry the truth forward. Pay attention to those who've actually lived out the consequences of a path before choosing to follow it yourself.
"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: "
"And this will be a sign to you, says the LORD, that I will indeed punish you right here in this place - so that you will know for certain that my words against you will surely come true, for harm."
I don't ask you to trust blindly - I give you ways to check, to see for yourself whether what you've been told holds up against what actually happens. Genuine faith isn't afraid of being tested against reality.
"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. "
"This is what the LORD says: I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, over to his enemies, to those seeking to kill him - just as I handed Zedekiah, king of Judah, over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life."
I sometimes let you see one promise keep before I ask you to trust another - looking back at what's already proven true can steady you for what's still ahead. Pay attention to your own history of being cared for; it's evidence, not coincidence.