The Berean Pursuit
When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God-everything that the LORD had sent him to say- Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'You must not go to Egypt to reside there.' Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!"
So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered, the men, the women, the children, the king's daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.
So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: "In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace at Tahpanhes.
Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed. He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.'?"
This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt-in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis-and in the land of Pathros: "This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation because of the evil they have done.
They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.'
But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.
So now, this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant? Why are you provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to reside?
As a result, you will be cut off and will become an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations of the earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah. And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.
I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague, so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to reside in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live; for none will return except a few fugitives."
Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by-a great assembly-along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah, "As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.
At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine."
"Moreover," said the women, "when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands' knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, "As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem-you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land-did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind? So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD, and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in His instruction, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has befallen you, as you see today."
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all those of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: 'We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.' Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows!
Nevertheless, hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the LORD, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, 'As surely as the Lord GOD lives.'
I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.
Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to Judah, few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah who went to dwell in the land of Egypt will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs!
This will be a sign to you that I will punish you in this place, declares the LORD, so that you may know that My threats of harm against you will surely stand. This is what the LORD says: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who seek his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life."
This is the word of the LORD about the nations-the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
"Deploy your shields, small and large;
advance for battle!
Harness the horses; mount the steeds;
take your positions with helmets on!
Polish your spears;
put on armor!
Why am I seeing this?
They are terrified,
they are retreating;
their warriors are defeated,
they flee in haste without looking back;
terror is on every side!"
declares the LORD.
"The swift cannot flee,
and the warrior cannot escape!
In the north by the River Euphrates
they stumble and fall.
Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters churn?
Egypt rises like the Nile,
and its waters churn like rivers,
boasting, 'I will rise and cover the earth;
I will destroy the cities and their people.'
Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots!
Let the warriors come forth-
Cush and Put carrying their shields,
men of Lydia drawing the bow.
For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts,
a day of vengeance against His foes.
The sword will devour until it is satisfied,
until it is quenched with their blood.
For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice
in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
Go up to Gilead for balm,
O Virgin Daughter of Egypt!
In vain you try many remedies,
but for you there is no healing.
The nations have heard of your shame,
and your outcry fills the earth,
because warrior stumbles over warrior
and both of them have fallen together."
This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
"Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes:
'Take your positions and prepare yourself,
for the sword devours those around you.'
Why have your warriors been laid low?
They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.
They continue to stumble;
indeed, they have fallen over one another.
They say, 'Get up! Let us return to our people
and to the land of our birth,
away from the sword of the oppressor.'
There they will cry out:
'Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise;
he has let the appointed time pass him by.'
As surely as I live, declares the King,
whose name is the LORD of Hosts,
there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
Pack your bags for exile,
O daughter dwelling in Egypt!
For Memphis will be laid waste,
destroyed and uninhabited.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.
Even the mercenaries among her
are like fattened calves.
They too will turn back;
together they will flee, they will not stand their ground,
for the day of calamity is coming upon them-
the time of their punishment.
Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent,
for the enemy will advance in force;
with axes they will come against her
like woodsmen cutting down trees.
They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD,
dense though it may be,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.
The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame;
she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north."
The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh. I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives-of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.
But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid,
and do not be dismayed, O Israel.
For I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return to quiet and ease,
with no one to make him afraid.
And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,
declares the LORD, for I am with you.
Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you,
I will not completely destroy you.
Yet I will discipline you justly,
and will by no means leave you unpunished."