Ezekiel 14:12-23

Living Bible

¹² Then this message of the Lord came to me:

¹³ “Son of dust, if the people of a land sin against me, then I will crush them with my fist, break off their food supply, and send famine to destroy both man and beast. ¹⁴ Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they alone would be saved by their righteousness, and I would destroy the remainder of Israel,” says the Lord God.

¹⁵ “If I send an invasion of dangerous wild animals into the land to devastate the land, ¹⁶ even if these three men were there, the Lord God swears that it would do no good—it would not save the people from their doom. Those three only would be saved, but the land would be devastated.

¹⁷ “Or if I bring war against that land and tell the armies of the enemy to come and destroy everything, ¹⁸ even if these three men were in the land, the Lord God declares that they alone would be saved.

¹⁹ “And if I pour out my fury by sending an epidemic of disease into the land, and the plague kills man and beast alike, ²⁰ though Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, the Lord God says that only they would be saved because of their righteousness.”

²¹ And the Lord says: “Four great punishments await Jerusalem to destroy all life: war, famine, ferocious beasts, plague. ²² If there are survivors and they come here to join you as exiles in Babylon, you will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and you will know it was right for me to destroy Jerusalem. ²³ You will agree, when you meet them, that it is not without cause that all these things are being done to Israel.”