⁶ Kill them all—old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin right here at the Temple.” So they began by killing the seventy leaders.

⁴ They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

²³ For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.

¹⁹ But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”^[a] and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”^[b]

³ “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”

²⁹ I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears my name. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’

⁴⁷ “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished.

The Fall of Jerusalem

¹⁷ So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians^[a] killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? ¹⁸ And also,

¹⁸ When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. ¹⁹ If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death.