18. But since the time we stopped burning incense and offering wine sacrifices to her, we have been dying from war and hunger.
19. Then the women said, “When we lived in Judah, we worshipped the Queen of Heaven and offered sacrifices of wine and special loaves of bread shaped like her. Our husbands knew what we were doing, and they approved of it.”
20. Then I told the crowd:
21. Don't you think the Lord knew that you and your ancestors, your leaders and kings, and the rest of the people were burning incense to other gods in Jerusalem and everywhere else in Judah?
22. And when he could no longer put up with your disgusting sins, he placed a curse on your land and turned it into a desert, as it is today.
23. This disaster happened because you worshipped other gods and rebelled against the Lord by refusing to obey him or follow his laws and teachings.
24-25. Then I told the men and their wives, that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:Here in Egypt you still keep your promises to burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to the so called Queen of Heaven.
26. Keep these promises! But let me tell you what will happen. As surely as I am the Lord God, I swear that I will never again accept any promises you make in my name.
27. Instead of watching over you, I will watch for chances to harm you. Some of you will die in war, and others will starve to death.
28. Only a few will escape and return to Judah. Then everyone who went to live in Egypt will know that when I say something will happen, it will—no matter what you say.
29. And here is how you will know that I will keep my threats to punish you in Egypt.
30. I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to those who want to kill him, just as I handed Zedekiah over to Nebuchadnezzar, who wanted to kill him.