Jeremiah 9:12
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
Cross-reference
Jeremiah 5:19 directly answers why the land is ruined—forsaking God and serving foreign gods led to exile.
Jeremiah 16:10-13 echoes the same question about disaster and gives the same answer—forsaking God and following other gods led to exile.
Jeremiah 22:9 provides the answer—forsaking the covenant and worshiping other gods—directly answering Jeremiah 9:12's question.
Jeremiah 44:3 gives the explicit reason for God's anger — idolatry — directly answering why the land was ruined here.
Jeremiah 5:6 depicts wild beasts as divine judgment for rebellion — one reason the land became a ruin.
Jeremiah 22:8 records the same question from nations about Jerusalem's ruin, mirroring the inquiry in Jeremiah 9:12.
Jeremiah 3:3 links withheld rain to Israel's shameless idolatry — a specific cause for the land's desolation described here.
Deuteronomy 29:22-28 describes the same devastated land and foreigners asking why—the covenant curse for idolatry that Jeremiah echoes.
Deuteronomy 32:29 expresses the same wish for wisdom to understand judgment's purpose, directly echoed in Jeremiah's rhetorical question.
1 Kings 9:9 gives the answer—forsaking God for other gods—which directly explains the land's ruin in Jeremiah 9:12.
Psalm 107:34 attributes a fruitful land turning to salt waste to wickedness, paralleling the reason for the land's ruin.
Ezekiel 22:25-31 catalogs the corruption of leaders and people — the specific sins that caused the land's desolation lamented here.
Hosea 14:9 uses almost identical opening: 'Who is wise? he shall understand these things,' directly paralleling Jeremiah's call for understanding.
1 Kings 9:8 records the same question from passersby about the temple's destruction, echoing the desolation theme of Jeremiah 9:12.
Psalm 107:43 also calls the wise to observe God's works, but there it is lovingkindness, contrasting with Jeremiah's focus on judgment.
James 3:13 echoes the same rhetorical question about wisdom, but answers it with deeds done in humility — contrasting Jeremiah's lament over wisdom's absence.