Sin and lawlessness of people defile the earth and causes it to cast off the people living on it
Righteousness exalts a person and his people.
When a nation turns away from his evil ways and the violence of their hands, then the new times come; joy comes instead of joy and triumph comes instead of tragedy. An entire nation can fall under the judgment of God because of the sins of its people. Sodom and Gomorrah is a clear example of how sin brings a destruction and tragedy into the life of a whole nation.