Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Jeremiah, chapters 43 and 44. Chapter 43. Now
it happened when Jeremiah had stopped speaking
to all the people, all the words of the Lord
their God, for which the Lord their God had sent
him to them all these words, that Azariah the
son of Hoshiah, Joanan the son of Korea, and
all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah,
You speak falsely. The Lord our God has not sent
you to say, Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.
But Baruch, the son of Neriah, has set you against
us to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans,
that they may put us to death or carry us away
captive to Babylon. So Joannan, the son of Korea,
all the captains of the forces, and all the people
would not obey the voice of the Lord to remain
in the land of Judah. But Joanan the son of Korea
and all the captains of the forces took all the
remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in
the land of Judah, from all nations where they
had been driven, men, women, children, the king's
daughters, and every person whom Nebuchadnezzar,
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 Nariah. So
they went to the land of Egypt, for they did
not obey the voice of the Lord, and they went
as far as Tephannes. Then the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah in Tephanis, saying, Take large
stones in your hand and hide them in the sight
of the men of Judah, in the clay in the brick
courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh's
house in Tephanis, and say to them, Thus says
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold,
I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar, the king
of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne
above these stones that I have hidden, and he
will spread his royal pavilion over them. When
he comes, he will strike the land of Egypt and
deliver to death those appointed for death, and
to captivity those appointed for captivity, and
to the sword those appointed for the sword. I
will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods
of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them
away captive, and he shall array himself with
the land of Egypt as a shepherd. puts on his
garment, and he shall go out from there in peace.
He shall also break the sacred pillars of Beit
Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt, and the
houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall
burn with fire. Chapter 44 The word that came
to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell
in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdal, at
Tephanis, at Noph, and in the country of Pathros,
saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel, You have seen all the calamity that
I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities
of Judah. And behold, this day they are a desolation,
and no one dwells in them, 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. However, I have sent to you
all my servants the prophets, rising early and
sending them, saying, O do not do this abominable
thing that I hate. But they did not listen or
incline their ear to turn from their wickedness
to burn no incense to other gods. So my fury
and my anger were poured out and kindled in the
cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem,
and they are wasted and desolate as it is this
day. Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God
of hosts. The God of Israel, why do you commit
this great evil against yourselves, to cut off
from you man and woman, child and infant, out
of Judah, leaving none to remain, in that you
provoke 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, that you
may cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach
among all the nations of the earth? Have 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?
They have not been humbled to this day, nor have
they feared. They have not walked in my law or
in my statutes that I said before you and your
fathers. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, Behold, I will set my face
against you for catastrophe and for cutting off
all Judah. And I will take the remnant of Judah,
who have set their faces to go into the land
of Egypt, to dwell there. And they shall all
be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They
shall be consumed by the sword and by famine.
They shall die from the least to the greatest,
by the sword and by famine. And they shall be
an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach.
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, so that none
of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the
land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or
survive, lest they return to the land of Judah,
to which they desire to return and dwell, for
none shall return except those who escape. Then
all the men who knew that their wives had burned
incense to other gods, with all the women who
stood by, a great multitude, and all the people
who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Patros, answered
Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that you have
spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will
not listen to you, but we will certainly do whatever
has gone out of our own mouth to burn incense
to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings
to 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 we
had plenty of food, were well off, and saw no
trouble. But since we stopped burning incense
to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink
offerings to her, we have lacked everything and
have been consumed by the sword and by famine.
The women also said, And when we burned incense
to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings
to her, did we make cakes for her to worship
her and pour out drink offerings to her without
our husband's permission? Then Jeremiah spoke
to all the people. the men, the women, and all
the people who had given him that answer, saying,
The incense that you burned in the cities of
Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and
your fathers, your kings and your princes, and
the people of the land, did not the Lord remember
them, and did it not come into his mind? So the
Lord could no longer bear it, because of the
evil of your doings and because of the abominations
which you committed. Therefore your land is a
desolation. an astonishment, a curse, and without
an inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you
have burned incense and because you have sinned
against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice
of the Lord or walked in His law, in His statutes,
or in His testimonies, therefore this calamity
has happened to you as at this day. Moreover,
Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the
women, Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah.
who are in the land of Egypt. Thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, You and
your wives have spoken with your mouth and fulfilled
with your hands, saying, We will surely keep
our vows that we have made, to burn incense to
the Queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings
to her. You will surely keep your vows and perform
your vows. Therefore hear the word of the Lord,
all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt. Behold,
I have sworn by my great name, says 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 lives. Behold, I will watch
over them for adversity and not for good. And
all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt
shall be consumed by the sword and by famine
until there is an end to them. Yet a small number
who escape the sword shall return from the land
of Egypt to the land of Judah, and all the remnant
of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to
dwell there shall know whose words will stand,
mine or theirs. And this shall be a sign to you,
says the Lord, that I will punish you in this
place, that you may know that my words will surely
stand against you for adversity. Thus says the
Lord, Behold, I will give Pharaoh, Hophra king
of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into
the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave
Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as
I did, and I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless
you and have a great day.