“And I shall allot you to the sword, and let you all bow down to the slaughter, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear, and you did evil before My eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.”
therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘See, I am punishing them, the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by scarcity of food.
‘If I go out to the field, then see those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, then see those sick from scarcity of food! For both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”
“Their widows shall be more numerous than the sand of the seas. I shall bring against them, against the mother of the young men, a ravager at noon. I shall cause agitation and sudden alarm to fall on her, suddenly.
So give their children over to scarcity of food, and hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become widows and bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, their young men be smitten by the sword in battle.
“Whoever stays in this city dies by the sword, by scarcity of food, and by pestilence. But whoever goes out and shall go over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, is going to live, and his life shall be as a prize to him.
“Young and old lie on the ground in the streets. My maidens and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your displeasure, You have slaughtered without compassion.