Deuteronomy 29:24

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

Deuteronomy 29:24 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 29:24

Even all nations shall say
For the destruction of this land, and the people of it, would be, as it has been, so very great and awful, and so very remarkable and surprising, that the fame of it would be heard among all the nations of the world, as it has been; who, upon hearing the sad report of it, would ask the following questions:

wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land?
so distinguished from all others for the fruitfulness and pleasantness of it; the people, the inhabitants of which, he chose, above all others, to be a special and peculiar people; and where he had a temple built for him, and where he had his residence, and worship used to be given unto him:

what [meaneth] the heat of this great anger?
what is the reason of his stirring up his fierce wrath, and causing it to burn in so furious a manner? surely it must be something very horrible and provoking indeed!

Deuteronomy 29:24 In-Context

22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land.

23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry.

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

25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt.

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