17 “Or if I bring a sword on that land, and I shall say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I shall cut off man and beast from it,
18 even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Master יהוה, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, for they alone would be delivered.
19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and I shall pour out My wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast,
20 even though Noaḥ, Dani’ĕl, and Iyoḇ were in it, as I live,” declares the Master יהוה, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver their own lives by their righteousness.”
21 For thus said the Master יהוה, “How much more it shall be when I send My four evil judgments on Yerushalayim: the sword and scarcity of food and evil beasts and pestilence, to cut off man and beast from it?
22 “But see, there shall be left in it a remnant who are brought out, both sons and daughters. See, they are coming out to you, and you shall see their ways and their deeds, and shall be comforted concerning the evil which I have brought upon Yerushalayim – all that I have brought upon it.
23 “And they shall comfort you, when you see their ways and their deeds. And you shall know that it was not for naught that I have done whatever I did in it,” declares the Master יהוה.