“On behalf of the people, all of Judah, and me, ask the Lord about the words in this book that has been found. The Lord’s fierce anger is directed towards us because our ancestors did not obey the things in this book or do everything written ⌞in it⌟.”
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in that land. When they chase after their gods as though they were prostitutes and sacrifice to them, they may invite you to eat the meat from their sacrifices with them.
You have never heard about them. You have never known about them. Your ears have never been open to hear them before. I know that you’ve acted very treacherously and that you have been called a rebel since you were born.
That’s why the anger of the Lord burns hot against his people, and he is ready to use his power to strike them down. The hills tremble, and dead bodies lie like garbage in the streets. Even after all this, his anger has not disappeared, and he is still ready to use his power.
The people of Israel fought the Babylonians. Now their houses are filled with the bodies of their own people I killed in my anger and my fury. I will hide my face from this city because of its wickedness.
Then the nations will know that the people of Israel went into captivity because they did wrong and rebelled against me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies. They were killed in battle.
But the people wouldn’t listen to the judges. The Israelites chased after other gods as though they were prostitutes and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors who had obeyed the Lord’s commands. They refused to be like their ancestors.