25. You broke my agreement, and I will punish you. I will bring armies against you. You will go into your cities for safety. But I will cause diseases to spread among you. Then your enemy will defeat you.
26. There will be very little bread to eat. Ten women will be able to cook all your bread in one oven. They will measure each piece of bread. You will eat, but you will still be hungry.
27. “‘If you still refuse to listen to me, and if you still turn against me,
28. I will really show my anger. I will punish you seven more times for your sins.
29. You will eat the bodies of your sons and daughters.
30. I will destroy your places where false gods are worshiped. I will cut down your incense altars. I will pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols. I will hate you.
31. I will destroy your cities. I will make your holy places empty. I will not smell the pleasing smell of your offerings.
32. I will make the land empty. Your enemies who come to live in it will be shocked at it.
33. I will scatter you among the nations. I will pull out my sword and destroy you. Your land will become empty. Your cities will become waste.
34. You will be taken to your enemy’s country. So your land will finally get its rest. It will enjoy its time of rest all the time it lies empty.
35. During the time the land is empty, it will rest. It will have the rest you should have given it while you lived in it.
36. “‘Those who are left alive will lose their courage in the land of their enemies. They will be frightened of everything. They will be frightened by even the sound of a leaf being blown by the wind. They will run as if someone were chasing them with a sword. They will fall even when no one is chasing them.
37. They will run as if someone were chasing them with a sword. They will fall over each other, even though no one is chasing them. You will not be strong enough to stand up against your enemies.
38. You will die among other nations. You will disappear in your enemies’ countries.
39. So those who are left alive will rot away in their enemies’ countries. They will rot away because of their sins and their ancestors’ sins.
40. “‘But maybe the people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors. Maybe they will admit they turned against me and sinned against me.
41. That made me turn against them. So I sent them into the land of their enemies. These disobedient people might be sorry for what they did. They might accept punishment for their sin.