²⁴ All the nations will say, ‘^(A)Why has the Lord done all this to this land? Why this great ^[a]outburst of anger?’ ²⁵ Then people will say, ‘It is ^(B)because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they have not known and whom He had not ^[b]assigned to them.

⁸ And this house will become ^(A)a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be appalled and ^[a]hiss and say, ‘^(B)Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and this house?’ ⁹ And they will say, ‘^(C)Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they ^[b]adopted other gods and worshiped and served them, for that reason the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”

¹⁰ “Now it will happen that, when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘^(A)For what reason has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us? And what is our wrongdoing, or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹ Then you are to say to them, ‘It is ^(B)because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed ^(C)other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law. ¹² You too have done evil, even ^(D)more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the ^(E)stubbornness of his own ^(F)evil heart, without listening to Me. ¹³ So I will ^(G)hurl you off this land to the ^(H)land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will ^(I)serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no compassion.’