17. "Don't you see what they are doing? They are worshiping other gods in the towns of Judah. They are offering sacrifices to them in the streets of Jerusalem.
18. The children go out and gather wood. The fathers light the fire. The women mix the dough. They make flat cakes of bread for the goddess who is called the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods. That makes me very angry.
19. "But am I the one they are hurting?" announces the Lord. "Aren't they only harming themselves? They should be ashamed of it."
20. So the Lord and King says, "I will pour out my burning anger on this place. It will strike people and animals alike. It will destroy the trees and the crops in the fields. It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out."
21. The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, "Go ahead! Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices. Eat the meat yourselves!
22. When I brought your people out of Egypt, I spoke to them. But I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.
23. I also gave them another command. I said, 'Obey me. Then I will be your God. And you will be my people. Live the way I command you to live. Then things will go well with you.'
24. "But they did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. They went backward and not forward.
25. "Again and again I sent my servants the prophets to you. They came to you day after day. They prophesied from the time your people left Egypt until now.
26. "But the people did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They did more evil things than their people who lived before them.
27. "Jeremiah, when you tell them all of that, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not answer.
28. "So say to them, 'You are a nation that has not obeyed the Lord your God. You did not pay attention when you were corrected. Truth has died out. You do not tell the truth anymore.' "