Jeremiah 44:1-10

1 The word that was made to Jeremy, and to all the Jews, that dwelled in the land of Egypt (who lived in the land of Egypt), dwelling in Migdol, and in Tahpanhes, and in Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, and said,
2 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Ye saw all this evil, which I brought (in) on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and lo! those be forsaken today, and no dweller is in them (and lo! they be deserted now, and no one is living there);
3 for the malice which they did, to stir me to wrathfulness, and that they went, and made sacrifice, and worshipped alien gods, which they knew not, both ye, and they, and your fathers. (for the malice which they did, to stir me to anger, and that they went, and made sacrifice, and worshipped strange, or foreign, gods, which they knew not, neither ye, nor they, nor your fathers.)
4 And I sent to you all my servants (the) prophets; and I rose by night, and sent, and said, Do not ye do the word of such abomination (and I rose up at night, and sent, and said, Do not ye do such abominable things).
5 And they heard not, neither bowed down their ear, that they shall be converted from their evils, and should not make sacrifice to alien gods. (But they did not listen, nor bowed down their ear, so that they would be turned from their evil doings, and would not make sacrifice to strange, or foreign, gods.)
6 And mine indignation and my strong vengeance is welled together, and is kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they be turned into wilderness, and wasteness, by this day. (And my indignation and my strong vengeance was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they were turned into wilderness, and waste, as they be today.)
7 And now the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Why do ye this great evil against your souls, that a man of you perish and a woman, a little child and (a) sucking (so that a man and a woman, and a little child and a suckling, all perish from among you), from the midst of Judah, (and) neither any residue thing (shall) be left in you,
8 that stir me to wrath by the works of your hands, in making sacrifice to alien gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered, that ye dwell there, and that ye perish, and be into cursing, and into shame to all the folks of earth? (and that ye stir me to anger by the works of your hands, in making sacrifice to strange, or to foreign, gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye have entered, so that ye live there, but where ye shall also perish, and shall be into cursing, and into shame to all the nations of the earth?)
9 Whether ye have forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Judah, and the evils of their wives, and your evils, and the evils of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah, and in the countries of Jerusalem? (and in the streets of Jerusalem?)
10 They be not cleansed unto this day, and they dreaded not, and they went not in the law of the Lord, and in my behests, which I gave before you, and before your fathers. (They be not cleansed unto this day, and they do not fear/and they do not show reverence, and they do not walk in the Law of the Lord, and in my commands, which I set before you, and before your fathers.)

Jeremiah 44:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 44

This chapter contains a sermon of Jeremiah's to the Jews in Egypt, reproving them for their idolatry there; their answer to it, expressing their resolution to continue in their idolatrous practices; and a denunciation of judgments upon them, of which a sign is given. The sermon begins with observing to them the destruction of Jerusalem, and the causes of it, idolatry and contempt of the prophets, Jer 44:1-6; then follows an expostulation with the present Jews for doing the same things, and exposing themselves and their posterity to the same punishment, Jer 44:7-10; upon which they are threatened with the sore judgments of God that should come upon them, and cut them off in general, Jer 44:11-14; yet such were the impudence and obstinacy of this people, that they declared they would not hearken to the prophet, but persist in their idolatry; it having been better with them when they practised it than when they left it, Jer 44:15-19; to which the prophet replies by observing, that for the idolatry of their fathers their land was become a desolation and a curse, as at this day, Jer 44:20-23; and assures them that destruction would come from the Lord upon them, which he had swore to, Jer 44:24-28; and a sign of it is given; the delivery of the king of Egypt into the hand of the king of Babylon, Jer 44:29,30.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.