Jeremiah 44 records the prophet’s final recorded message to Jewish refugees who fled to Egypt after Jerusalem fell, and who kept burning incense to the “queen of the sky” even after the disaster they had lived through. These questions are for a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study. Each set gives you a way into the text, along with discussion notes you can use or adapt.
Jeremiah 44 at a Glance
The chapter opens with God’s word to Jews living in Egypt in several towns, reminding them of the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem and the sin that caused it (verses 1-6). God then presses the question of why they keep provoking him, when their own history shows where idolatry leads (verses 7-10). He announces judgment on the remnant who insist on settling in Egypt (verses 11-14).
The second half records the people’s defiant reply, their claim that worship of the queen of the sky brought prosperity, and Jeremiah’s answer that God himself had been driving the disaster through their sin (verses 15-23). The chapter closes with a message to all Judah in Egypt, a sworn oath of judgment, and a sign that Pharaoh Hophra would fall as Zedekiah did (verses 24-30).
Observation Questions
Use these to slow the group down and let the text speak before anyone interprets it. Ask each question, let a few people answer from the passage itself, and point back to the verses if an answer drifts into opinion.
Jeremiah 44:4-5
4 However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.” 5 But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods.
(WEB)
Read these verses to show the patience of God in sending warnings through his prophets and the people’s stubborn refusal to listen. They set up the whole chapter’s argument, so hearing them early helps the group follow the reasoning that follows.
Jeremiah 44:10
They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.’
(WEB)
This verse names the heart problem directly: the people were not humbled and had not feared or walked in God’s law. Reading it aloud gives the group a clear target for the application questions and invites honest reflection on their own posture before God.
Jeremiah 44:17-18
17 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to 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 had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
(WEB)
Hearing the people’s own words lets the group feel the force of their argument from prosperity. Reading it before Jeremiah’s reply helps everyone understand why the people found their position convincing and why the prophet’s answer required careful explanation.
Jeremiah 44:22-23
22 Thus the LORD could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today. 23 Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today.”
(WEB)
These verses give Jeremiah’s answer, tying the ruin to the Lord’s response to their sin. Reading them aloud lets the group hear the central theological claim of the chapter in one place and test it against the people’s earlier view.
Jeremiah 44:29-30
29 “‘This will be the sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’ 30 The LORD says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.’”
(WEB)
Ending the reading here reminds the group that the judgment was announced as a sign and that God’s words stand. These closing verses give a sober finish to the session and prepare people for the prayer that follows.
Memory Verse for Jeremiah 44
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you having read a hard chapter about a people who kept worshiping other gods even after they had seen the ruin of their home. We confess that we, too, are tempted to trust in things that promise security but cannot hold us. Make us attentive to your word when it comes through Scripture, through one another, or through the quiet voice of conscience, and give us hearts that bend rather than stiffen. Where we have been unhumbled, soften us. Where we have trusted false sources of hope, turn us back to you. Keep the people in this room, and those who are far from home or far from faith, under your watchful care. Amen.
