יחזקאל, פרק י״א, פסוק י״ב

Recognition of God's greatness and justice sometimes arrives only through the painful experience of punishment and brokenness. The people face a severe warning for a dual failure: they abandoned the path of the Torah, and they actively embraced the corrupt customs of neighboring nations.

The primary approach among commentators is that true understanding will dawn upon the people only when disaster actually strikes. Once the divine judgment and the harsh decrees are fully realized, they will recognize that God is faithful to exact retribution. The coming tragedy will force them to acknowledge that He punishes those who forsake His laws.

The accusation of imitating the surrounding nations specifically targets the adoption of their worst practices. The people engaged in severe sins, particularly idolatry and the shedding of innocent blood [רד״ק, מצודת דוד].

This situation presents an apparent contradiction with an earlier prophecy, which claimed that the people actually failed to act like the surrounding nations. A teaching from the Sages resolves this by highlighting the true tragedy of their behavior. They completely ignored the proper, functional customs of their neighbors, refusing to learn from anything good. Instead, they only rushed to imitate and adopt the most corrupt and evil practices available [מלבי״ם, מנחת שי].