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.
Therefore He brought against them the sovereign of the Chaldeans, and he slew their young men with the sword in the House of their set-apart place, and had no compassion on young man or maiden, on the aged or the weak – He gave all into his hand.
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.
“And I shall punish you according to the fruit of your deeds,” declares יהוה. “And I shall kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall consume all that is around her.” ’ ”
“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.
“I have sent among you a plague in the way of Mitsrayim. I have slain your young men with a sword, along with your captured horses. And I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils. But you did not turn back to Me,” declares יהוה.