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15 Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. 17 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to 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 had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”

19 The women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”

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The Refugees Refuse to Repent

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were offering sacrifices to other gods and all the women who were standing by—a large group, including all the people who were living in the land of Egypt in Pathros—answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the message that you reported to us in the name of the Lord, we won’t listen to you! 17 Rather, we will keep doing everything that we said we would[a] by offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven[b] and by pouring out liquid offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of bread, things went well for us, and we didn’t experience disaster. 18 From the time we stopped offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been consumed[c] by the sword and famine. 19 Indeed, we[d] are going to continue offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her. And do you think we have made[e] cakes to represent her or poured out liquid offerings for her without our husbands’ approval?”[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:17 Lit. every word that comes out of our mouths
  2. Jeremiah 44:17 I.e. the Near Eastern fertility goddess Ishtar
  3. Jeremiah 44:18 Lit. have come to an end
  4. Jeremiah 44:19 I.e. the women
  5. Jeremiah 44:19 Lit. And have we made
  6. Jeremiah 44:19 Lit. apart from our husbands