Jeremiah 9:12-16

International Standard Version

The Reason for Judgment

¹² Who is the wise person who understands this, and to whom has the Lord^[a] spoken so that he may declare it? Why is the land destroyed, ruined like the desert, without anyone passing through it? ¹³ The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my Law that I gave them. They didn’t obey me and didn’t live according to it. ¹⁴ Instead, they followed their rebellious hearts and the Baals,^[b] as their ancestors taught them.”

¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Look, I’ll make these people eat wormwood^[c] and drink poisoned water. ¹⁶ I’ll scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I’ll pursue them with the sword until I’ve finished them off.”