דברי הימים ב, פרק ל״ו, פסוק י״ד

Spiritual and moral decay had spread through every level of society, infecting everyone from the highest religious leaders to the ordinary citizens. The heaviest criticism falls upon the chief priests, whose original duty was to guide the nation along the right path. The severity of the failure is magnified because these were not ordinary priests; they were the heads of the leadership. They held the power and authority to protest against the spreading evil, yet they chose to remain silent [רש״י]. This failure of leadership and action constituted a direct betrayal of God [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The ultimate betrayal occurred when the people and their leaders actively defiled the Temple. They desecrated the sacred space by bringing their abominations and idol worship directly inside [רש״י]. The gravity of this act is profound because the Temple in Jerusalem had been explicitly sanctified so that God's name would dwell there forever. By bringing idols into this space, they completely profaned and defiled its eternal destiny [רש״י].