9. I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!”
10. I said, “I will weep and mourn for the grasslands on the mountains,I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wildernessbecause they are so scorched no one travels through them.The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fieldshave fled and are gone.”
11. The Lord said, “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins.Jackals will make their home there.I will destroy the towns of Judahso that no one will be able to live in them.”
12. I said, “Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it?Why does the land lie in ruins?Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
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.