¹⁷ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them ^(A)sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like ^(B)vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.

⁸ “But thus says the Lord: Like ^(A)the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^(B)Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^(C)dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will make them ^(D)a horror^[a] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^(E)a reproach, ^(F)a byword, ^(G)a taunt, and ^(H)a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send ^(I)sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

¹⁸ I will pursue them with ^(A)sword, famine, and pestilence, ^(B)and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, ^(C)to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations ^(D)where I have driven them,

^23 (A)Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and ^(B)wrath against this people.

¹¹ There will be great ^(A)earthquakes, and in various places ^(B)famines and pestilences. And there will be ^(C)terrors and great ^(D)signs from heaven.

Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared

¹² And the word of the Lord came to me: ^13 (A)“Son of man, when a land sins against me ^(B)by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and ^(C)break its supply^[a] of bread and send famine upon it, and ^(D)cut off from it man and beast, ^14 (E)even if these three men, ^(F)Noah, ^(G)Daniel, and ^(H)Job, were in it, ^(I)they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.

^15 (J)“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, ^(K)and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶ even if these three men were in it, ^(L)as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but ^(M)the land would be desolate.

¹⁷ “Or ^(N)if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, ^(O)and I cut off from it man and beast, ^18 (P)though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

¹⁹ “Or ^(Q)if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.

²¹ “For thus says the Lord God: How much more ^(R)when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, ^(S)sword, ^(T)famine, ^(U)wild beasts, and ^(V)pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

^12 (A)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; ^(B)a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; ^(C)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

^13 (D)“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that ^(E)I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—^(F)when I spend my fury upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you ^(G)a desolation and ^(H)an object of reproach among ^(I)the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ You shall be^[a] a reproach and a taunt, a warning ^(J)and a horror, to ^(K)the nations all around you, ^(L)when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and ^(M)with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— ¹⁶ when I send against you^{[b] (N)}the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon ^(O)you and break your supply^[c] of bread. ¹⁷ I will send famine and ^(P)wild beasts against you, ^(Q)and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and ^(R)blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

⁶ On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

¹¹ He shall come ^(A)and strike the land of Egypt, ^(B)giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword.