16 If you do that, then I will cause terrible things to happen to you. I will cause you to have disease and fever. They will destroy your eyes and take away your life. You will not have success when you plant your seed. And your enemies will eat your crops!
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
16 I will do this: I will appoint over you [sudden] terror (trembling, trouble), even consumption and fever that consume and waste the eyes and make the [physical] life pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
16 I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
16 then I will do the following to you: I will bring horrific things: wasting diseases and fevers that make the eyes fail and drain life away. You will plant seed for no reason because your enemies will eat the food.
16 then I also will do these things to you. I will quickly visit you with destitution, and burning heat, which will waste away your eyes, and consume your lives. In vain will you sow your seed, which will be devoured by your enemies.
16 I also will do these things to you. I will quickly visit you with poverty, and burning heat, which shall waste your eyes, and consume your lives. You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be devoured by your enemies.
“The land might become very dry and no food will grow on it. Or maybe a great sickness will spread among the people. Maybe all of the food that is growing will be destroyed by insects. Or your people might be attacked in some of their cities by their enemies. Or many of your people might become sick.
The bronze arrow will go\par all the way through his body,\par and stick out from his back.\par Its shining point will pierce his liver,\par and he will be shocked with terror.\par
The Lord said, “You must obey the Lord, your God. You must do the things he says are right. If you obey all the Lord’s commands and laws, then you will not be sick like the Egyptians. I, the Lord, will not give you any of the sicknesses I gave the Egyptians. I am the Lord. I am the one who makes you well.”
You will have to bow down like a prisoner. You will fall down like a dead person. But that will not help you! God will still be angry. God will still be ready to punish you.
A message was told to the family of David. {\cf2\super [76]} The message said, “The army of Aram and the army of Ephraim (Israel) have joined together. The two armies are camped together.”
The people will plant wheat,\par but they will harvest only thorns.\par They will work hard until they are very tired,\par but they will get nothing for all their work.\par They will be ashamed of their crop.\par The Lord’s anger caused those things.”\par
I will send four kinds of destroyers against them.’\par This message is from the Lord.\par ‘I will send the enemy with a sword to kill.\par I will send the dogs to drag their bodies away.\par I will send birds of the air and wild animals\par to eat and destroy their bodies.\par
Many women will lose their husbands.\par There will be more widows\par than there is sand in the sea.\par I will bring a destroyer at noontime.\par The destroyer will attack the mothers\par of the young men of Judah.\par I will bring pain and fear\par on the people of Judah.\par I will make this happen very quickly.\par
That is your name, because the Lord says: ‘I will soon make you a terror to yourself! I will soon make you a terror to all your friends. You will watch enemies killing your friends with swords. I will give all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon. He will take the people of Judah away to the country of Babylon. And his army will kill the people of Judah with their swords.
Those soldiers will eat all the crops\par that you gathered.\par They will eat all of your food.\par They will eat (destroy) your sons\par and daughters.\par They will eat your flocks and your herds.\par They will eat your grapes and your figs.\par They will destroy your strong cities\par with their swords.\par They will destroy the strong cities\par that you trust in!\par
You will wear your turbans {\cf2\super [207]} and your shoes. You won’t show your sadness. You won’t cry. But you will be wasting away because of your sins. You will make your sad sounds quietly to each other.
“So, Son of man, {\cf2\super [267]} speak to the family of Israel for me. Those people might say, ‘We have sinned and broken the law. Our sins are too heavy to bear. We rot away because of those sins. What can we do to live?’
You take unfair taxes {\cf2\super [69]} from poor people.\par You take loads of wheat from them.\par You build fancy houses with cut stone.\par But you will not live in those houses.\par You plant beautiful fields of grapes.\par But you will not drink the wine from them.\par
You will plant your seeds,\par but you will not gather food.\par You will try to squeeze oil from your olives,\par but you will not get any oil.\par You will crush your grapes,\par but you will not get enough juice\par to have wine to drink.\par
You have planted many seeds, but you have gathered only a few crops. You have food to eat, but not enough to get full. You have something to drink, but not enough to get drunk. You have some clothes to wear, but not enough to keep warm. You earn a little money, but \{you don’t know where it all goes\}. It’s like there is a hole in your pocket!’ {\cf2\super [2]} ”
But the Lord will punish the nations that fought against Jerusalem. He will send a terrible disease against them. Their skin will begin to rot while the people are still alive. Their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
“Look, I will punish your descendants. During the holidays, you priests offer sacrifices to me. You take the dung and inside parts from the dead animals, and throw those parts away. But I will smear that dung on your faces, and you will be thrown away with it!
They will take your animals and the food you grow. They will take everything until they destroy you. They will not leave you any grain, wine, oil, cows, sheep or goats. They will take everything, until they destroy you.
In the streets, soldiers will kill them.
In their houses, terrible things will happen.
Soldiers will kill young men and women.
They will kill babies and old people.
At that time, the Angel of the Lord came to a man named Gideon. The Angel of the Lord came and sat down under an oak tree at a place called Ophrah. This oak tree belonged to a man named Joash. Joash was from the Abiezer family. Joash was the father of Gideon. Gideon was beating some wheat [51] in a winepress. [52] The Angel of the Lord sat down near Gideon. Gideon was hiding so the Midianites could not see the wheat.
There is one man that I will save to serve {as priest} at my altar. {He will live to be very old.} He will live until his eyes wear out and his strength is gone. All of your descendants will die by the sword.