¹² What person is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been ·taught [^Lspoken to] by the Lord who can explain them [Hos. 14:9]? Why was the land ·ruined [scorched]? Why has it been made like an empty desert where no one goes?

¹³ The Lord answered, “It is because Judah ·quit following [abandoned; forsook] my ·teachings [laws; instructions] that I gave them. They have not ·obeyed me [^Llistened to my voice] or ·done what I told them to do [^Lwalked in it]. ¹⁴ Instead, they ·were stubborn [^Lwalked after their stubborn hearts] and ·followed [^Lwalked after] the Baals, as their ·ancestors [fathers] taught them to do.” ¹⁵ So this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: “I will soon make the people of Judah eat ·bitter food [^Lwormwood; ^Cthe bitter tasting leaves of a shrub] and drink poisoned water. ¹⁶ I will scatter them through other nations that they and their ·ancestors [fathers] never knew about. I will ·chase [pursue; ^Lsend after] them [^Cthe people of Judah] with the sword until they are all ·killed [consumed; finished].”