2 Kings 22:17
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
The coming ruin of Jerusalem was judgment because the people had forsaken God, burned incense to other gods, given worship to them, and provoked Him to anger by the works of their hands, by their deeds and actions. That threatened judgment was the fulfillment upon their disobedience of the words of the law pronounced against disobedience. The wrath was to be kindled against the place, to fall on the land, and it would not be quenched and would not be turned aside.
Long-continued wrongdoing and long practice of sin had so deadened the moral senses of the people that without judgment they would soon return to their sinful course. For that reason the announced wrath could not be turned aside even if the people humbled themselves. The personal humility of Josiah would spare him from seeing the calamity, yet it would not avert the doom for the city.