Jeremiah 44:20-30

20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people -- to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,

21 "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?

22 So the LORD could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which ye have committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, and an astonishment and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

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 has happened unto you, as at this day."

24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people and to all the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt.

25 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 hands, 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!

26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah who 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."

27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.

28 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.

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.'

30 Thus saith the LORD: `Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.'"

Jeremiah 44:20-30 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.