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Jeremiah Warns Against Going to Egypt
42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest came near, 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be accepted before you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, even for all this remnant. For we are left but a few out of many, as your eyes now see us. 3 Pray that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words. And it shall come to pass, that whatever the Lord will answer you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not act according to all things for which the Lord your God shall send you to us. 6 Whether it is good or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10 If you will still abide in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up; for I will relent of the disaster that I have brought on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon of whom you are now afraid. Do not be afraid of him, says the Lord. For I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will show mercies to you so that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.
13 “But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ so as not to obey the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, ‘No, but we will go into the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger for bread, and there we will dwell,’ 15 now therefore hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, 16 then it shall come to pass that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt and the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt. And there you shall die. 17 So it shall be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them. 18 For thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My fury have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out upon you when you go to Egypt. And you will be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. And you shall see this place no more.
19 “The Lord has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go into Egypt! Know certainly that I have admonished you this day. 20 For you have only deceived yourselves when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God. And according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.’ 21 Now I have this day declared it to you. But you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything for which He has sent me to you. 22 Now therefore certainly know that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the place wherever you desire to go and to sojourn.”
Jeremiah Taken to Egypt
43 When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men said to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go into Egypt to sojourn there.’ 3 But Baruch the son of Neriah sets you against us to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death and carry us away captives into Babylon.”
4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord to dwell in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all nations wherever they had been driven to dwell in the land of Judah, 6 even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 So they came into the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. Thus they entered as far as Tahpanhes.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying: 9 Take some large stones in your hand and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. 11 When he comes, he shall ravage the land of Egypt and deliver whoever is meant for death to death, and whoever is meant for captivity to captivity, and whoever is meant for the sword to the sword. 12 I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt and he shall burn them and carry them away captives. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall depart from there in peace. 13 He shall also break the images of Heliopolis that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.
Idolatry Leads to Judgment
44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdol, and Tahpanhes, and Memphis, and in the country of Pathros,[a] saying, 2 Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the calamity that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Look at them; today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, 3 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 did not know; they nor you nor your fathers. 4 However, I sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate.” 5 But they did not listen nor incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, not to burn incense to other gods. 6 Therefore My fury and My anger was poured out and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are ruined and desolate, as it is this day.
7 Now thus says the Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Why are you committing this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving you no one to remain, 8 provoking Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to dwell, so that you might cut yourselves off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you 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? 10 They are not humbled even to this day, nor have they feared, nor have they walked in My law and My statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: I will set My face against you for disaster, and to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they all will be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They will even be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they will be an execration, and an astonishment, and 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 none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there will escape or remain, with the result that they return into the land of Judah to which they have a desire to return to dwell there. For no one shall return except those who escape.
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. 17 But we will certainly do whatever we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well off, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have been in want of all things and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”
19 The women also said, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands?”
Calamity for the Jews
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who had given him such an answer: 21 “The incense offerings that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, your kings, and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them and did they not come into His mind? 22 So the Lord could no longer bear it because of the evil of your deeds and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 Because you have burned incense and because you 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 calamity has happened to you, as it is this day.”
A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus
2 So you, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Share the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses with faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Endure hard times as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No soldier on active duty entangles himself with civilian affairs, that he may please the enlisting officer. 5 Anyone who competes as an athlete is not rewarded without competing legally. 6 The farmer who labors should be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I am saying, and may the Lord grant you understanding in all things.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, according to my gospel, 9 in which I suffer trouble like a criminal, even with chains. But the word of God is not bound. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 This is a faithful saying:
If we die with Him,
we shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure,
we shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.
An Approved Workman
14 Remind them of these things, commanding them before the Lord that they not argue about words, which leads to nothing of value and to the destruction of those who hear them. 15 Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But avoid profane foolish babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness, 17 and their word will spread like gangrene: Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred, and who overthrow the faith of some. 19 But the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who calls on the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
20 In a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some are for honor, and some for dishonor. 21 One who cleanses himself from these things will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, fit for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work.
Psalm 92
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
and to sing praises unto Your name, O Most High:
2 to declare forth Your lovingkindness in the morning
and Your faithfulness in the night,
3 on a ten-stringed lute and on the harp,
and on the lyre with a solemn sound.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will sing joyfully at the works of Your hands.
5 O Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep!
6 A brutish man does not recognize,
neither does the fool understand this.
7 Though the wicked spring up as the grass
and all those who do iniquity flourish,
they shall be destroyed forever:
8 But You, O Lord, are on high forever.
9 For Your enemies, O Lord,
for Your enemies shall perish;
all those who do iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn You have exalted like the horn of the wild ox;
You have anointed me with fresh oil.
11 My eyes also shall see the downfall of my enemies,
and my ears shall hear the doom of my wicked adversaries.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that are planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be filled with vitality and foliage,
15 to show that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Psalm 93
1 The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.
Indeed, the world is established;
it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne is established of old;
You are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring waves.
4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
yes, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Your statutes are very sure;
holiness is becoming to Your house,
O Lord, forever.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the fool’s back.
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
lest you also be like unto him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own conceit.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.