On Noah, Daniel, and Job

¹² This message came to me from the Lord: ¹³ “Son of Man, when a nation^[a] sins against me by a treacherous act,^[b] I’ll reach out to oppose it, destroying its source of food,^[c] by sending famine against it, and by destroying both people and beast within it. ¹⁴ Though these three men, Noah, Daniel,^[d] and Job lived in that land, they would only save their own lives on account of their righteousness,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁵ “If I were to make wild animals pass throughout the land, so that they kill its residents^[e] and it were to become desolate because no one will travel through it due to those wild animals,^{[f] 16} then even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they wouldn’t be able to deliver even their sons or daughters. They would only save themselves, but the land would become desolate.

¹⁷ “Or if I were to bring war to^[g] that land and say, ‘Hey, sword! Pass throughout the land so I can destroy both man and beasts in it,’ ¹⁸ though these three men lived there, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they couldn’t deliver their own sons and daughters. They would only save themselves.

¹⁹ “Or if I were to send a pestilence against that land and pour out my anger in it with bloodshed, destroying both man and beast in it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were among them, as I live” says the Lord God, “they couldn’t save their own sons or daughters. They would only save their own souls due to their own righteousness.”

²¹ This is what the Lord God says, “I’m sending four of my most destructive judgments—military invasion,^[h] famine, wild animals, and pestilence—into Jerusalem to destroy both human beings and livestock in it. ²² But look! There will be a remnant who escapes, a few sons and daughters to be brought out. Look! They’ll come out to you and you’ll see how they’ve lived and what they’ve done, and you’ll be comforted concerning the catastrophe that I brought on Jerusalem, including everything that I brought against her. ²³ They’ll comfort you when you see how they’ve lived and what they’ve done, because you’ll know for certain that I haven’t done anything that I’ve done against them without any reason,”^[i] declares the Lord God.