17 “Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out both man and animal from it,
18 even if these three men were in it, as I live” — the declaration of the Lord God — “they could not deliver their sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both man and animal from it,
20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live” — the declaration of the Lord God — “they could not deliver their son or daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.
21 “For this is what the Lord God says: How much worse will it be when I send My four devastating judgments against Jerusalem — sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague — in order to wipe out both man and animal from it!
22 Even so, there will be survivors left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. Indeed, they will come out to you, and you will observe their conduct and actions. Then you will be consoled about the devastation I have brought on Jerusalem, about all I have brought on it.
23 They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done what I did to it.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.