Jeremiah 51

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who dwelt in the land of Egypt, and those settled in Magdolos and in Taphnas and in the land of Pathoures, saying:

Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evils that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon the cities of Judah; and behold, they are desolate, without inhabitants,

because of their wickedness which they committed, provoking me to anger by going to burn incense to other gods, whom you did not know.

And I sent to you my servants the prophets early in the morning, and I sent them saying: Do not do this defiling thing which I have hated.

But they did not listen to me and did not incline their ear to turn from their evils, so as not to burn incense to other gods.

So my anger and my wrath dripped down and was kindled in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a wasteland, as at this day.

And now thus said the Lord Almighty: Why do you commit these great evils against your own souls, cutting off from among you man and woman, infant and nursing child, out of the midst of Judah, so that not one of you is left?

provoking me with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you entered to dwell there, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth.

Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Judah, and the evils of your rulers, and the evils of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and outside Jerusalem?

And they have not ceased to this day, nor have they held fast to my ordinances which I set before their fathers.

Therefore thus said the Lord: Behold, I am setting my face

to destroy all the remnant who are in Egypt. And they shall fall by the sword and shall perish by the famine, from the least to the greatest; and they shall become a reproach and a destruction and a curse.

And I will visit those settled in the land of Egypt as I visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine and with pestilence.

And not one of the remnant of Judah who sojourn in the land of Egypt shall be saved so as to return to the land of Judah, to which in their souls they hope to return; they shall not return, except those who escape.

Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women, a great assembly, and all the people who were settled in the land of Egypt, in Pathoure, answered Jeremiah, saying:

As for the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you.

For we will certainly perform every word that goes out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we did, we and our fathers and our kings and our rulers, in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem; then we were filled with bread and were prosperous and saw no evils.

But since we left off burning incense to the queen of heaven, we have all been brought low, and by sword and by famine we have come to an end.

And when we burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands that we made cakes for her and poured out drink offerings to her?

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the mighty men and to the women and to all the people who had answered him with words, saying:

Was it not the incense which you burned in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem — you and your fathers and your kings and your rulers and the people of the land — that the Lord remembered and that came up into his heart?

And the Lord could bear it no longer, because of the wickedness of your deeds, because of the abominations which you committed; and your land became a desolation and a wasteland and a curse, as at this day.

It is because of the things for which you burned incense and because you sinned against the Lord, and did not obey the voice of the Lord, and did not walk in his ordinances and in his law and in his testimonies — therefore these evils have taken hold of you.

And Jeremiah said to the people and to the women: Hear the word of the Lord.

Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: You women have spoken with your mouth and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying: We will surely perform our vows which we vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her. You have indeed kept your vows and have indeed performed them.

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are settled in the land of Egypt. Behold, I have sworn by my great name, said the Lord, that my name shall no longer be in the mouth of anyone of Judah, to say, The Lord lives, the Lord, in all the land of Egypt.

For behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good; and all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt shall perish by sword and by famine, until they are utterly consumed.

And those saved from the sword shall return to the land of Judah, few in number; and the remnant of Judah who went to settle in the land of Egypt shall know whose word shall stand.

And this shall be the sign to you, that I will visit you for harm.

Thus said the Lord: Behold, I am giving Ouaphre king of Egypt into the hands of his enemy and into the hands of those who seek his life, just as I gave Sedekias king of Judah into the hands of Nabouchodonosor king of Babylon, his enemy, who sought his life.

The word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Barouch son of Nerias, when he was writing these words in the book from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Joakim son of Josias, king of Judah:

Thus said the Lord concerning you, Barouch:

Because you said: Woe is me, woe is me! For the Lord has added toil upon pain for me; I lay down in groanings, I have found no rest.

Say to him: Thus said the Lord: Behold, those whom I built I am tearing down, and those whom I planted I am plucking up.

And are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am bringing evils upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give your life to you as a thing found, in every place wherever you go.