15 Then all the men who knew that their wives(A) were burning incense(B) to other gods, along with all the women(C) who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt,(D) said to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen(E) to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!(F) 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would:(G) We will burn incense(H) to the Queen of Heaven(I) and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials(J) did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.(K) At that time we had plenty of food(L) and were well off and suffered no harm.(M) 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings(N) to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.(O)

19 The women added, “When we burned incense(P) to the Queen of Heaven(Q) and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands(R) know that we were making cakes(S) impressed with her image(T) and pouring out drink offerings to her?”

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The People’s Stubborn Response

15 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, 16 “As for the word you spoke to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! 17 Instead, we will do everything we said we would: burn incense to the queen of heaven[a] and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in Judah’s cities(A) and in Jerusalem’s streets. Then we had enough food and good things and saw no disaster, 18 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.”

19 And the women said,[b] “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands’ knowledge(B) that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 44:17 = Ashtoreth, or Astarte
  2. Jeremiah 44:19 LXX, Syr; MT omits And the women said