They were severely burned. They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They would not change the way they think and act and give him glory.
While he was still talking to them, the messenger arrived. He said to Elisha, “This severe famine is from the Lord. Why should I wait any longer for the Lord ⌞to help us⌟?”
They will pass through the land when they are hard-pressed and hungry. When they are hungry, they will be furious. Then they will look up, cursing their king and God.
Lord, your eyes look for the truth. You strike these people, but they don’t feel it. You crush them, but they refuse to be corrected. They are more stubborn than rocks. They refuse to turn back.
I’m afraid that when I come to you again, my God may humble me. I may have to grieve over many who formerly led sinful lives and have not changed the way they think and act about the perversion, sexual sins, and promiscuity in which they have been involved.
At that moment a powerful earthquake struck. One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were terrified. They gave glory to the God of heaven.
The angel said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the time has come for him to judge. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs.”
The people who survived these plagues still did not turn to me and change the way they were thinking and acting. If they had, they would have stopped worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.