16. As surely as I live, I promise that even if these three men lived in that nation, their own children would not be spared. The three men would live, but the land would be an empty desert.
17. Or suppose I send an enemy to attack a sinful nation and kill its people and livestock.
18. If these three men were in that nation when I punished it, not even their children would be spared. Only the three men would live.
19. And suppose I am so angry that I send a deadly disease to wipe out the people and livestock of a sinful nation.
20. Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the Lord, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared.
21. I am the Lord God, and I promise to punish Jerusalem severely. I will send war, starvation, wild animals, and deadly disease to slaughter its people and livestock.