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Jeremiah 44

KJV · Chapter 44/52

1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

2Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,

3Because 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 knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.

4Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

5But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

6Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.

7Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;

8In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9Have ye 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?

10They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.

11Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

12And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:

14So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

15Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

16As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.

17But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

18But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

19And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

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

21The 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?

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

23Because 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 is happened unto you, as at this day.

24Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

25Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, 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.

26Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah that 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.

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

28Yet 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.

29And 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:

30Thus 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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah confronts the Jewish refugees in Egypt for continuing to burn incense to idols, especially to the 'queen of heaven.' He announces that almost all of them will perish there, with few survivors.

Explanation

This is one of the most direct confrontations in the book: even after seeing Jerusalem destroyed exactly as Jeremiah had predicted because of idolatry, the people in Egypt keep practicing the same cults, and even argue that their past prosperity came precisely from worshiping the 'queen of heaven' (probably a fertility goddess such as Astarte or Ishtar). The people's stubborn refusal, even in the face of clear historical evidence, shows how deeply rooted patterns of sin resist even concrete proof of their consequences. The sign given — the fall of Pharaoh Hophra to his own enemies — would serve as final confirmation that God's word, and not the Egyptian idols, determined the true course of history.

Fun facts

  • The 'queen of heaven' mentioned here is generally identified with Astarte or Ishtar, fertility deities worshiped across various cultures of the ancient Near East, with archaeological evidence of cakes and drink offerings made in her honor.
  • Pharaoh Hophra (Apries) really was deposed and killed in an internal coup led by Amasis, his own general, around 570 BC — literally fulfilling the prophecy of this chapter (v. 30).

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremiah 44:1Addressed to Jews scattered across several cities of Egypt -- Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis (Noph), and the region of Pathros in the south -- showing that the Jewish community there was already well established in several places.
  2. Jeremiah 44:2God recalls what has already happened to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, now deserted, as living proof of what idolatry brought -- a warning based on recent facts, not an abstract threat.
  3. Jeremiah 44:3Reinforces that the cause of the destruction was burning incense to foreign gods that not even their ancestors had known -- imported idolatry, not part of the people’s original tradition.
  4. Jeremiah 44:4Repeats the book’s recurring accusation: God sent prophets insistently, without stopping, asking them to give up this detestable practice.
  5. Jeremiah 44:5Even with all these warnings, the people never listened nor turned from idolatry -- the same refusal that had already led to the destruction of Jerusalem.
  6. Jeremiah 44:6Explains the direct result: God’s wrath poured out on the cities of Judah, leaving them in the desolate state that the exiles in Egypt could themselves witness.
  7. Jeremiah 44:7A rhetorical question of astonishment: why keep doing this same evil against themselves, risking the loss of even children and infants, after already seeing the result in Jerusalem?
  8. Jeremiah 44:8The idolatry continues even in Egypt, the place they fled to -- provoking the same wrath of God that already destroyed Judah, and threatening to wipe out any remnant of the people for good.
  9. Jeremiah 44:9God asks whether they have already forgotten the accumulated sins of generations -- kings, queens, the people themselves -- as if a short memory were part of the problem.
  10. Jeremiah 44:10Notes that, even after everything, there has been no real repentance: they still live without fear and without following the law God gave to them and to their ancestors alike.
  11. Jeremiah 44:11God declares a direct intention of harm against this specific group -- those who insisted on going to Egypt -- determined to wipe out this community entirely.
  12. Jeremiah 44:12Details the fulfillment of the threat: the remnant of Judah in Egypt will be consumed by sword and famine, from the greatest to the least, becoming an object of horror among the nations.
  13. Jeremiah 44:13God promises to visit Egypt with the same punishments that already fell on Jerusalem -- sword, famine, and plague -- showing that fleeing does not escape judgment.
  14. Jeremiah 44:14The sentence is almost absolute: no one from this group will escape to return to Judah, except for a few fugitives -- the dream of one day returning would be dashed for most of them.
  15. Jeremiah 44:15This is one of the most direct scenes of the people talking back to a prophet: they openly push back, saying life only got worse after they stopped worshiping the queen of heaven, and that they will keep up the worship on their own. It shows that, even after all the destruction, the lesson had not been learned.
  16. Jeremiah 44:16The people’s answer is an open, blunt refusal: they say plainly that they will not obey Jeremiah’s message given in God’s name.
  17. Jeremiah 44:17The cakes mentioned here and in 7:18 were probably sweets shaped in the image of the goddess, made by the women of the household -- a detail showing this was a domestic, everyday cult, not a rare temple event.
  18. Jeremiah 44:18The people argue the opposite of what Jeremiah says: they claim that ever since they stopped worshiping the queen of heaven is when they began to lack everything, sword and famine -- reversing cause and effect.
  19. Jeremiah 44:19The women spell out the practice: they made cakes shaped like the goddess and poured out drink offerings, and point out that they did it with the full knowledge and approval of their own husbands.
  20. Jeremiah 44:20Jeremiah answers the whole group, men and women, who had just used this backward argument to justify their idolatry.
  21. Jeremiah 44:21Jeremiah turns the argument around: it is exactly this practice of burning incense, carried on for generations, that God remembered and that brought on the punishment -- not the opposite.
  22. Jeremiah 44:22Explains that God simply could no longer bear such accumulated wickedness, and that is why the land of Judah became the abandoned wasteland everyone now sees.
  23. Jeremiah 44:23Sums up the cause-and-effect plainly: the disaster came because they sinned, burned incense, and disobeyed the law -- not because they had stopped worshiping the queen of heaven.
  24. Jeremiah 44:24Jeremiah addresses the women in particular, who had led the defense of the pagan cult, along with the rest of the people present.
  25. Jeremiah 44:25With irony, God practically authorizes the people to go on fulfilling their own vows of idolatry -- since they are so determined, let them go ahead, but they will reap the consequences.
  26. Jeremiah 44:26God solemnly swears that His own name will never again be invoked by the mouth of any Jew in Egypt -- a total break, almost a formal abandonment of this specific community.
  27. Jeremiah 44:27Repeats the sentence of destruction: the Jews who remained in Egypt will be consumed by sword and famine until they have practically vanished as a group.
  28. Jeremiah 44:28Only a small number will survive and return to Judah, and that remnant will stand as living proof of which word actually came true -- God’s, or that of those who insisted on idolatry.
  29. Jeremiah 44:29God promises a concrete sign to confirm all of this: something that will visibly happen in that very place, tied to the fate of Pharaoh himself.
  30. Jeremiah 44:30The promised sign: Pharaoh Hophra will be handed over into the hands of his own enemies, the same way Zedekiah was handed over to Nebuchadnezzar -- a political downfall that would confirm Jeremiah’s word.

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