Ezekiel 14:13-21

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

¹³“Son of man, if a country sins against Me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, ¹⁴even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save themselves,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁵“If I were to cause vicious animals to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, ¹⁶though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. ¹⁷Or if I were to bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,’ and I eliminated human and animal life from it, ¹⁸even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. ¹⁹Or if I were to send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, ²⁰even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it!