Jeremiah 44:12

12 And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach!

Jeremiah 44:12 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:12

And I will take the remnant of Judah
Such as remained of that tribe in the land of Judea after the captivity: and not all of them, but such that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn
there:
who were bent upon going thither, notwithstanding all the remonstrances made to them to the contrary; and were gone thither, and were now actually sojourners there: this describes such persons who wilfully, and of their own accord, went thither; and excepts those who were over-persuaded or over-powered to go along with them: and they shall all be consumed, [and] fall in the land of Egypt;
not by natural death, one after another; but by the judgments of God, as follows: they shall [even] be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine;
by the sword of the king of Babylon; and by famine, occasioned by a foreign army and sieges: they shall die; from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and
by the famine;
which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to express the universality of the destruction; that it should reach to persons of every age, state and condition, rank and degree, young and old, high and low, rich and poor: and they shall be an execration, [and] an astonishment, and a curse,
and a reproach; (See Gill on Jeremiah 42:18).

Jeremiah 44:12 In-Context

10 They have not been humbled, to this day, nor have they feared; they have not walked in My law or in My statutes that I set before you and your fathers.'
11 "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will set My face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah.
12 And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, 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 famine, and by pestilence,
14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and dwell. For none shall return except those who escape.' "
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.