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Judgment on the Jews in Egypt
Jeremiah 44:1–14 is a serious message to Jews living in Egypt. It explains why Judah became desolate and warns that continuing the same sins in Egypt will bring further judgment.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In this passage, the word of Yahweh comes through Jeremiah to Jews living in several places in Egypt: Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and Pathros. The message points back to the ruin of Jerusalem and Judah, explains its cause, and applies that warning to the people now living in Egypt.
Jeremiah 44:1–14Main takeaway
This passage teaches that Yahweh explains his judgment plainly and calls his people to recognise that stubborn idolatry leads to ruin, not safety.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01The message is for Jews living in EgyptThe passage begins by naming the people addressed and where they live in Egypt. Then Yahweh reminds them of the devastation already brought on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.
Explanation
The passage begins by naming the people addressed and where they live in Egypt. Then Yahweh reminds them of the devastation already brought on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. The desolation is presented as something they have seen, not something hidden from them.
02Judah’s ruin had a stated causeYahweh says the disaster came because of wickedness shown in burning incense and serving other gods.
Explanation
Yahweh says the disaster came because of wickedness shown in burning incense and serving other gods. He had sent his prophets to say, “Don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.” But the people did not listen or turn back, so wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem.
03The same sin is happening in EgyptThe warning turns to the present. By burning incense to other gods in Egypt, the people are doing great evil against themselves.
Explanation
The warning turns to the present. By burning incense to other gods in Egypt, the people are doing great evil against themselves. The passage says this endangers whole households, including men, women, infants, and nursing children, and would leave no remnant remaining.
04They have not humbled themselvesYahweh asks whether they have forgotten earlier wickedness in Judah and Jerusalem, including that of fathers, kings, wives, and their own households.
Explanation
Yahweh asks whether they have forgotten earlier wickedness in Judah and Jerusalem, including that of fathers, kings, wives, and their own households. Even now, the passage says, they are not humbled, do not fear, and do not walk in his law and statutes set before them.
05A severe warning for the remnant in EgyptBecause they have set themselves to live in Egypt, Yahweh says he will set his face against them for evil.
Explanation
Because they have set themselves to live in Egypt, Yahweh says he will set his face against them for evil. The remnant will be consumed in Egypt by sword, famine, and pestilence, like Jerusalem was, and almost none will return to Judah.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01According to this passage, why had Jerusalem and the cities of Judah become desolate?
Look for the stated cause in the people’s actions and Yahweh’s response, rather than giving a general answer about suffering.
02What does this passage say Yahweh had already done before judgment came?
Notice the repeated sending of his servants the prophets and the specific warning they gave.
03How does the passage show that living in Egypt would not protect this remnant?
Trace the warnings about what would happen in Egypt and compare them with what had happened to Jerusalem.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Jeremiah 44:1–14
1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them,
3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.
4However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.”
5But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods.
6Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.’
7“Therefore now Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining,
8in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live, that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.’
11“Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.
12I will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will 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. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach.
13For I will punish those who 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, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’ ”