Do not be tempted to bow down and worship the sun or moon or stars (the host or army of the heavens). Jehovah put them there a heritage for all the people under the heavens.

Some worship and bow down to other gods, the sun, the moon, or the whole army of heaven. I have forbidden this.

As for you, do not pray for this people. Do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me for I do not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? read more. The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire. The women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite me. Do they spite me? Asks Jehovah. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame? Therefore the Lord Jehovah says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn and not be quenched.

They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like Topheth. They burned sacrifices to the heavenly hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the rooftops of all of their houses.'

Then all the men who knew that their wives offered sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, including the Israelites who lived in southern Egypt, a large crowd in all said to me: We refuse to listen to what you have told us in the name of Jehovah. read more. We will do everything that we said we would. We will offer sacrifices to our goddess, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out wine offerings to her, just as our ancestors, our king and our leaders, and we used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food, we were prosperous, and had no troubles. Ever since we stopped sacrificing to the Queen of Heaven and stopped pouring out wine offerings to her, we have had nothing, and our people have died in war and of starvation. The women added: 'When we baked cakes shaped like the Queen of Heaven, offered sacrifices to her, and poured out wine offerings to her, our husbands approved of what we were doing.' Then I said to all the men and the women who had answered me in this way: About the sacrifices you and your ancestors, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land offered in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: do you think that Jehovah did not know about them or that he forgot them? This very day your land lies in ruins and no one lives in it. It has become a horrifying sight. People use its name as a curse because Jehovah could no longer endure your wicked and evil practices. This present disaster has come on you because you offered sacrifices to other gods and sinned against Jehovah by not obeying all his commandments. I told all the people, especially the women, what Jehovah, the God of Israel, was saying to the people of Judah living in Egypt. Both you and your wives have made solemn promises to the Queen of Heaven. You promised that you would offer sacrifices to her and pour out wine offerings to her, and you have kept your promises. Very well, then! Keep your promises! Carry out your vows! But now listen to the vow that I, Jehovah, have made in my mighty name to all you in Judah and in Egypt: 'Never again will I let any of you use my name to make a vow by saying: I swear by the living God, Jehovah!' I will see to it that you will not prosper, but will be destroyed. All of you will die! You will die in war or of disease, until not one of you is left. But a few of you will escape death and return from Egypt to Judah. Then the survivors will know whose words have come true, mine or theirs. I Jehovah will give you proof that I will punish you in this place and that my promise to bring destruction on you will come true. Jehovah says, 'I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to his enemies who want to kill him, just as I handed over King Zedekiah of Judah to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was his enemy and wanted to kill him.'

I will remove those who bow down to worship the host of heaven on the housetops and those who bow down and swear to Jehovah and yet swear by Malcolm.