Jeremiah 44:9-25

Have you forgotten the evils of your ancestors, the evils of Judah’s kings, the evils of their wives, your own evils, and the evils of your wives that were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? They have not become humble to this day, and they have not feared or followed my instruction or my statutes that I set before you and your ancestors. “Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to set my face against you to bring disaster, to cut off all Judah. And I will take away the remnant of Judah, those who have set their face to go to the land of Egypt to stay there. All of them will meet their end in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword; they will meet their end by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword and by famine. Then they will become an example for cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace. I will punish those living in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem by sword, famine, and plague. Then the remnant of Judah — those going to live for a while there in the land of Egypt — will have no fugitive or survivor to return to the land of Judah where they are longing to return to stay, for they will not return except for a few fugitives.” However, all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women standing by — a great assembly — and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros answered Jeremiah, “As for the word you spoke to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! Instead, we will do everything we promised: we will burn incense to the queen of heaven and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets. Then we had enough food, we were well off, and we saw no disaster, but from the time we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to offer her drink offerings, we have lacked everything, and through sword and famine we have met our end.” And the women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” But Jeremiah responded to all the people — the men, women, and all the people who were answering him: “As for the incense you burned in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets — you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land — did the LORD not remember them? He brought this to mind. The LORD can no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable acts you have committed, so your land has become a waste, a desolation, and an example for cursing, without inhabitant, as you see today. Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD and didn’t obey the LORD and didn’t follow his instruction, his statutes, and his testimonies, this disaster has come to you, as you see today.” Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for you and your wives, you women have spoken with your mouths, and you men fulfilled it by your deeds, saying, “We will keep our vows that we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings for her.” Go ahead, confirm your vows! Keep your vows!’