Jeremiah 44:8

8 And why do you deliberately make me angry by what you do, offering sacrifices to these no-gods in the land of Egypt where you've come to live? You'll only destroy yourselves and make yourselves an example used in curses and an object of ridicule among all the nations of the earth.

Jeremiah 44:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:8

In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands,
&c.] Their sinful actions, particularly their idolatry, by worshipping images, the works of men's hands; and though it was the queen of heaven they worshipped, which their hands made not, yet it was before images they did that; besides, the things they did to her were the worlds of their hands, as sacrificing, pouring out drink offerings, and as follows: burning incense;
which they did, not only to her, but to other gods in the land of Egypt;
where they were very numerous: whither ye be gone to dwell;
against the express will and command of God: that ye might cut yourselves off;
as from the worship of God, so from being his people, and from being under his care and protection, and from all privileges temporal and spiritual: and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of
the earth?
not that this was their view, end, and design, but this was the event so it was, that they were looked upon as an accursed people of God and man, and their names were taken up for a proverb and a reproach everywhere.

Jeremiah 44:8 In-Context

6 So I let loose with my anger, a firestorm of wrath in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and left them in ruins and wasted. And they're still in ruins and wasted.'
7 "This is the Message of God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: 'So why are you ruining your lives by amputating yourselves - man, woman, child, and baby - from the life of Judah, leaving yourselves isolated, unconnected?
8 And why do you deliberately make me angry by what you do, offering sacrifices to these no-gods in the land of Egypt where you've come to live? You'll only destroy yourselves and make yourselves an example used in curses and an object of ridicule among all the nations of the earth.
9 "'Have you so soon forgotten the evil lives of your ancestors, the evil lives of the kings of Judah and their wives, to say nothing of your own evil lives, you and your wives, the evil you flaunted in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?
10 And to this day, there's not a trace of remorse, not a sign of reverence, nobody caring about living by what I tell them or following my instructions that I've set out so plainly before you and your parents!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.