The Skeptics Annotated Bible (604 page)

(44.6)
“Wherefore 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.”

7 Therefore 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;

(44.7)
“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.”

8 In 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
?

(44.8)
“Ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt … that ye might cut yourselves off and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth.”

(44.9-10) Men need to control their wicked wives.

9
Have 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?

(44.9)
“Have ye forgotten … the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?”

10
They 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.

(44.10)
“They 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.”

(44.11-13) God is not finished with Judah. He’ll bring more evil upon them. Even those Jews that flee to Egypt will not be spared. God will hunt them down and kill them all with war, famine, and disease.

11 Therefore
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.

(44.11)
“Thus saith the LORD … Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.”

12 And 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.

(44.12)
“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.”

13
For 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:

(44.13)
“For 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.”

14 So 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.

(44.15-25) God is going to do some really bad things to the people because the women burned incense to the “Queen of Heaven” (The Most Blessed Virgin Mary?).

15
Then 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
,

(44.15)
“Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by … saying,
(Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee….—Just kidding!)”

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

17 But
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.

(44.17)
“We will … burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her.”

18 But
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.

(44.18)
“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.”

19 And
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?

(44.19)
“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”

20 Then 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,

21 The 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?

22 So 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.

(44.22)
“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.”

23
Because 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.

(44.23)
“Because 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.”

24 Moreover 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:

25 Thus 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.

(44.25)
“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.”

26 Therefore 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.

(44.26)
“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.”
God swears by his own “great name” that no one from Judah will know his name anymore in Egypt.

(44.27-29) “I will watch over them for evil, and not for good.” So begins another pronouncement of death and destruction on his chosen people.