²³ The whole land will be a burning waste^(A) of salt^(B) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,^(C) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.^{(D) 24} All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?^(E) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.^{(F) 26} They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.^{(G) 28} In furious anger and in great wrath^(H) the Lord uprooted^(I) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

¹⁶ If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.^(A)”