Jeremiah 9:12-14

New Catholic Bible

¹² Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been commanded by the Lord to make it known? Why has the land been ravaged and laid waste like a desert through which no one is able to pass? ¹³ The Lord says, “This was permitted to happen because they have rejected my law which I set before them, and they have not followed it or listened to my voice. ¹⁴ Rather, they have stubbornly obeyed the wishes of their own hearts and followed the Baals, as their ancestors had taught them.”