These people
could refer to the people of Judah or the foreign nations that surround Judah. From what is said in the verses that follow, it is most likely referring to the foreign nations1. As the surrounding nations view the destruction that the Babylonians have brought to Judah, they conclude that the Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose,
which in this context would refer to Israel and Judah. To these foreign nations it appears as though Israel should no longer be considered to be a nation. If the Lord who supposedly chose Israel to be his people has brought such destruction on them, then surely the very basis of their nationhood is gone. The people of Judah sitting in exile may very well have felt the same way.
24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight.