17. Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18. Children gather wood, fathers light fires, and women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out wine offerings to other gods in order to make me furious.
19. They aren’t really provoking me,” declares the Lord. “But they are ⌊harming⌋ themselves to their own shame.
20. “This is what the Almighty Lord says: My anger and fury will be poured out on this place, on humans and animals, and on trees and crops. My anger and fury will burn and not be put out.
21. “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the meat.
22. When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not tell them anything about burnt offerings and sacrifices.
23. But I did tell them this, ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live the way I told you to live so that things will go well for you.’
24. But they didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. They followed their own plans and their stubborn, evil ways. They went backward and not forward.
25. From the time that your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again.