“ People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another,‘ Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’

许多国的民要经过这城，各人对邻舍说：‘耶和华为何向这大城如此行呢？’

“许多国的百姓经过这城，就彼此谈论说：‘耶和华为何向这大城这样做呢？’

“许多国的百姓经过这城，就彼此谈论说：‘耶和华为何向这大城这样做呢？’

“各国的人经过这城时都会彼此议论说，‘为什么耶和华这样对待这座大城？’

多国的人必经过这城，彼此发问：‘耶和华为什么这样对待这大城呢？’

「許多國的民要經過這城，各人對鄰舍說：『耶和華為何向這大城如此行呢？』

「許多國的百姓經過這城，就彼此談論說：『耶和華為何向這大城這樣做呢？』

「許多國的百姓經過這城，就彼此談論說：『耶和華為何向這大城這樣做呢？』

「各國的人經過這城時都會彼此議論說，『為什麼耶和華這樣對待這座大城？』

多國的人必經過這城，彼此發問：‘耶和華為甚麼這樣對待這大城呢？’

『「必有許多國的人要經過這城，彼此對問說：『永恆主為甚麼這樣罰辦這個大城呢？』

多邦之人經是邑者、將相語曰、耶和華如是待此大邑、何故、

凡鄰國眾庶、經過是邑、互相告語、曰、耶和華罰此大邑、何為至於若斯。

諸國之人、經過是邑、彼此問曰、主何為待此大邑如此、

“ People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another,‘ Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’

“‘ And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor,“ Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?”

“ People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another,‘ Why did the Lord destroy such a great city?’

“ Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another,‘ Why did the LORD do such a thing to this great city?’

“ Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another,‘ Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’

And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor,‘ Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’

And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city?

“ Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another,‘ Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’

And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

“‘ People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another,“ Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?”

“ Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor,‘ Why has Yahweh done this to this great city?’

This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will make fun of it. And they will say,‘ Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?’People will answer,‘ Because they have deserted the Lord their God. He brought out of Egypt their people of long ago. But they have been holding on to other gods. They’ve been worshiping them. They’ve been serving them. That’s why the Lord has brought all this horrible trouble on them.’ ”

Then I will remove Israel from my land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it apart for my Name to be there. I will make all the nations hate it. They will laugh and joke about it.This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will say,‘ Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?’People will answer,‘ Because they have deserted the Lord. He is the God of their people who lived long ago. He brought them out of Egypt. But they have been holding on to other gods. They’ve been worshiping them. They’ve been serving them. That’s why the Lord has brought all this horrible trouble on them.’ ”

The whole land will be burned up. Nothing but salt and sulfur will be left. Nothing will be planted there. Nothing will grow there. In fact, nothing will even start to grow there. The land will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim after they were destroyed. The Lord wiped out those cities because he was very angry.All the nations will ask,“ Why has the Lord done this to the land? What could have made him so very angry?”And they will hear the answer,“ It’s because the people living there have broken the covenant of the Lord. He’s the God of their people of long ago. He made that covenant with them when he brought them out of Egypt.They went off and worshiped other gods. They bowed down to them. They hadn’t known anything about those gods before. The Lord hadn’t given those gods to them.

All those who pass by clap their hands and make fun of you. They laugh at you and shake their heads at the city of Jerusalem. They say,“ Could that be the city that was called perfect and beautiful? Is that the city that brought joy to everyone on earth?”All your enemies open their mouths wide against you. They laugh at you and grind their teeth. They say,“ We have swallowed up Jerusalem’s people. This is the day we’ve waited for. And we’ve lived to see it.”The Lord has done what he planned to do. He has made what he said come true. He gave the command long ago. He has destroyed you without pity. He has let your enemies laugh at you. He has made them stronger than you are.

“ Lord, you always do what is right. But we are covered with shame today. We are the people of Judah and Jerusalem. All of us are Israelites, no matter where we live. We are now living in many countries. You scattered us among the nations because we weren’t faithful to you.

“ Tell these people all these things. They will ask you,‘ Why has the Lord decided to send so much trouble on us? We haven’t done anything wrong. We haven’t committed any sins against the Lord our God.’

The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening. Neither could any of the peoples of the world. Enemies actually attacked and entered the gates of Jerusalem.