¹⁷But certainly we will do everything^t that went out from our mouths,^u to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors,^v our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for then we had enough to eat,^w and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster. ¹⁸But since^x we stopped making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have perished. ¹⁹And indeed, when we were making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out^y to her libations, was it not with the consent of^z our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes marked with her image,^a and we poured out to her libations?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who answered him a word, saying,^b ²¹“The smoke offerings that you made in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your ancestors,^c your kings and your officials, and the people of the land—did not Yahweh remember them, and did it not come to his mind?^d ²²And Yahweh was no longer able to bear^e it, because of^f the evil of your deeds, because of^g the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, without^h inhabitants, as it is this day. ²³Because ofⁱ the fact that you made smoke offerings, and that you sinned against Yahweh, and you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you have not walked in his law, and in his statute, and in his legal provisions, therefore^j this disaster has happened to you, as it is this day.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,^k ‘You and your wives have promised with your mouths^l and with your hands^m you have fulfilled, saying,ⁿ “We certainly will carry out our vows that we vowed, to make smoke offerings to the queen of the heavens,^o and to pour out to her libations.” You must certainly keep your vows and you must certainly carry out your vows.’

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Footnotes

tLiterally “all the word”
uHebrew “mouth”
vOr “fathers”
wLiterally “we satisfied ourselves with food”
xLiterally “from”
yLiterally “to pour out”
zLiterally “from apart from”
aLiterally “to the copying of her”
bLiterally “to say”
cOr “fathers”
dLiterally “heart”
eOr “endure”
fLiterally “from the face of”
gLiterally “from the face of”
hLiterally “from there is not”
iLiterally “From the face of”
jLiterally “unto thus”
kLiterally “to say”
lHebrew “mouth”
mHebrew “hand”
nLiterally “to say”
oHebrew “heaven”