14:12 耶和華的話臨到我說：
14:13 「人子啊，若有一國犯罪干犯我，我也向他伸手折斷他們的杖，就是斷絕他們的糧，使饑荒臨到那地，將人與牲畜從其中剪除；
14:14 其中雖有挪亞、但以理、約伯這三人，他們只能因他們的義救自己的性命。這是主耶和華說的。
14:15 我若使惡獸經過糟踐那地，使地荒涼，以致因這些獸，人都不得經過；
14:16 雖有這三人在其中，主耶和華說：我指著我的永生起誓，他們連兒帶女都不能得救，只能自己得救，那地仍然荒涼。
14:17 或者我使刀劍臨到那地，說：刀劍哪，要經過那地，以致我將人與牲畜從其中剪除；
14:18 雖有這三人在其中，主耶和華說：我指著我的永生起誓，他們連兒帶女都不能得救，只能自己得救。
14:19 或者我叫瘟疫流行那地，使我滅命（原文是帶血）的忿怒傾在其上，好將人與牲畜從其中剪除；
14:20 雖有挪亞、但以理、約伯在其中，主耶和華說：我指著我的永生起誓，他們連兒帶女都不能救，只能因他們的義救自己的性命。」
14:21 主耶和華如此說：「我將這四樣大災─就是刀劍、饑荒、惡獸、瘟疫降在耶路撒冷，將人與牲畜從其中剪除，豈不更重嗎？
14:22 然而其中必有剩下的人，他們連兒帶女必帶到你們這裡來，你們看見他們所行所為的，要因我降給耶路撒冷的一切災禍，便得了安慰。
14:23 你們看見他們所行所為的，得了安慰，就知道我在耶路撒冷中所行的並非無故。這是主耶和華說的。」
And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, when a land sins against me by
acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply
of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and
Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness,
declares the Lord God.
“If
I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be
made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, even if these three men were in it, as I
live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters.
They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.
“Or if I bring a sword upon that land and
say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and
beast, though these three men were in
it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor
daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
“Or
if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood,
to cut off from it man and beast, even
if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they
would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives
by their righteousness.
“For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my
four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence,
to cut off from it man and beast! But behold, some survivors will be left in
it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to
you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the
disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon
it. They will console you, when you see
their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without
cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”
***********
饑荒、刀劍、惡獸、瘟疫一定降臨，不能因為少數義人扭轉結局，就如經文中說到：「其中雖有挪亞、但以理、約伯這三人，他們只能因他們的義救自己的性命。」「雖有這三人在其中，主耶和華說：我指著我的永生起誓，他們連兒帶女都不能得救，只能自己得救，…」
這一段經文主要是說「義人自己的行為也不能救敗壞的國家」，自己必須為自己的行為負責。被擄到巴比倫的人行為依然敗壞，所以看到的人會說這樣敗壞的一羣人，還可以剩下不少人到巴比倫來，上帝真是憐憫以色列人了。而且也會知道上帝讓四樣災禍臨到耶路撒冷，實在是合情合理的（耶路撒冷是罪有應得）。
而這樣的說法，就是要告訴我們，人不要為自己臨到的災難感到吃驚，會有這些災難發生，是要提醒人不要再繼續遠離上帝，悖逆創造我們的主，要悔改歸向祂，靠耶穌基督修復與上帝重新有合宜和正確的關係。
