Jeremiah 22:8
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? 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?
The verse belongs to the warnings and appeals to the Jews found in Jeremiah 12 to 24. In chronological order its chapter follows chapter 20 and comes before chapters 23, 25, 26 and the rest of Jeremiah's experiences in Judah. It belongs to Jeremiah's weeping over Judah at a time of false prophets, utter rejection of God's law and principles of righteousness, and persecution of Jeremiah himself.
It stands as a record of the awful enormity of sin and its sure consequences. Jerusalem's judgment, desolation, destruction and scattering by the Lord came because of disobedience to His commandments and forsaking of His law. It is evidence that the years of release and Jubilee ceased after Josiah's reign, when the people, rulers, and land could no longer be redeemed. Together with the book's assurances of the heavenly Father's kindness and everlasting love, its warnings and appeals are peculiarly applicable to the present day.