9:12 I said, 1
“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? 2
Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? 3
Why does the land lie in ruins?
Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
9:13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. 4 9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to 5 the gods called Baal, 6 as their fathers 7 taught them to do. 9:15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, 8 say. 9 ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. 10 9:16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors 11 have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords 12 until I have destroyed them.’” 13
