He offered sacrifices {\cf2\super [327]} to the gods the people of Damascus worshiped. The people of Damascus had defeated Ahaz. So he thought to himself, “The gods the people of Aram worship helped them. So if I offer sacrifices to those gods, maybe they will help me also.” Ahaz worshiped those gods. In this way he sinned, and he made the people of Israel sin.
Then the women spoke up. {\cf2\super [358]} They said to Jeremiah, “Our husbands knew what we were doing. We had their permission to make sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven. We had their permission to pour out drink offerings to her. Our husbands also knew that we were making cakes that looked like her.”
Jeremiah said to those people, “The Lord remembered that you made sacrifices in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. You and your ancestors, {\cf2\super [359]} your kings, your officials, and the people of the land did that. The Lord remembered what you had done, and thought about that.
He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to speak to the family of Israel. Those people turned against me many times. And their ancestors turned against me. They have sinned against me many times—and they are still sinning against me today.
You must tell them the things I say. I know they won’t listen to you. And they won’t stop sinning against me! Why? Because they are a rebellious people.