5. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
6. For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:“‘You are like Gilead to me,like the summit of Lebanon,yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.
7. I will prepare destroyers against you,each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedarsand cast them into the fire.
8. “‘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?”
9. And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
10. Weep not for him who is dead,nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away,for he shall return no moreto see his native land.