Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin."

Then the whole world will ask, 'Why did the LORD do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?'

They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the LORD had forbidden them to worship.

The LORD became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.'

"The LORD's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior.

They sacrificed to gods that are not real, new gods their ancestors had never known, gods that Israel had never obeyed.

"When the LORD saw this, he was angry and rejected his sons and daughters.

They stopped worshiping the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and made the LORD angry.

And so the LORD became furious with Israel and let raiders attack and rob them. He let the enemies all around overpower them, and the Israelites could no longer protect themselves.

The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.

So the LORD became angry with Israel and let King Cushan Rishathaim of Mesopotamia conquer them. They were subject to him for eight years.

Once again the Israelites sinned against the LORD by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the LORD and stopped worshiping him.

So the LORD became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them.

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD and said, "We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshiped the Baals."

the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them?

Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get in trouble."

But if you or your descendants stop following me, disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and worship other gods,

This Temple will become a pile of ruins, and everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. 'Why did the LORD do this to this land and this Temple?' they will ask.

"But your people rebelled and disobeyed you; they turned their backs on your Law. They killed the prophets who warned them, who told them to turn back to you. They insulted you time after time,

so you let their enemies conquer and rule them. In their trouble they called to you for help, and you answered them from heaven. In your great mercy you sent them leaders who rescued them from their foes.

but they intermarried with them and adopted their pagan ways.

They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.

They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God.

He abandoned them to the power of the heathen, and their enemies ruled over them.

No other nation has ever changed its gods, even though they were not real. But my people have exchanged me, the God who has brought them honor, for gods that can do nothing for them.

for my people have committed two sins: they have turned away from me, the spring of fresh water, and they have dug cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all.

Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands.

They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell.

May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

Their land is full of idols, and they worship objects that they have made with their own hands.

Everyone will be humiliated and disgraced. Do not forgive them, LORD!

The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god---save me!"

The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!"

"To whom will you compare me?" says the LORD. "Is there anyone else like me?

They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they put it in place, and there it stands, unable to move from where it is. If any pray to it, it cannot answer or save them from disaster.

I will destroy your idols and sacred stone pillars; no longer will you worship the things that you yourselves have made.

They even tried to stop us from preaching to the Gentiles the message that would bring them salvation. In this way they have brought to completion all the sins they have always committed. And now God's anger has at last come down on them!

My anger will flame up like fire and burn everything on earth. It will reach to the world below and consume the roots of the mountains.

But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the LORD's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

The sinful people of Zion are trembling with fright. They say, "God's judgment is like a fire that burns forever. Can any of us survive a fire like that?"

And so I, the Sovereign LORD, will pour out my fierce anger on this Temple. I will pour it out on people and animals alike, and even on the trees and the crops. My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out.

But they must obey me and observe the Sabbath as a sacred day. They must not carry any load through the gates of Jerusalem on that day, for if they do, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. Fire will burn down the palaces of Jerusalem, and no one will be able to put it out."

Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign LORD is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames.

They will all see that I, the LORD, set it on fire and that no one can put it out."

On the day when the LORD shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end---a sudden end---to everyone who lives on earth.