⁵ Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the ^[a]constellations, and to ^(A)all the host of heaven.

¹⁷ But we will certainly do ^(A)whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the ^(B)queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of ^[a]food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”

¹⁹ The women also said, ^(C)“And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?”

³ For he rebuilt the ^[a]high places ^(A)which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a ^[b]wooden image, ^(B)as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he ^(C)worshiped all ^[c]the host of heaven and served them. ^4 (D)He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^(E)“In Jerusalem I will put My name.”

Jeremiah Mourns for His People

8 “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. ² They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and ^(A)which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered ^(B)nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.