The City Will Not Be Spared

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by ^(A)being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, ^[a]destroy its ^(B)supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, ¹⁴ even ^(C)though these three men, ^(D)Noah, ^(E)Daniel, and ^(F)Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save ^(G)themselves,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “If I were to cause ^(H)vicious animals to pass through the land and they ^[b]depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, ¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. ^(I)They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I were to ^(J)bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,’ and I ^(K)eliminated human and animal life from it, ¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I were to send a ^(L)plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when ^(M)I send My four ^[c]severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it! ²² Yet, behold, ^[d]survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will ^(N)see their conduct and actions; then you will be ^(O)comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. ²³ Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done ^(P)without reason whatever I did ^[e]to it,” declares the Lord God.