Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will visit upon them: and their young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts: 'Lo, I am seeing after them, The chosen ones die by sword, Their sons and their daughters die by famine,

So the Lord of armies has said, See, I will send punishment on them: the young men will be put to the sword; their sons and their daughters will come to death through need of food:

Propterea sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Ecce ego vlsitans (visitabo) super eos; adolescentes eorum monentur gladio, filii eorum et filiae eorum morientur fame:

The young men - i. e., those of the legal age for military service.

Behold, I will punish them - And the punishment is, Their young men shall die by the sword of the Chaldeans; and their sons and daughters shall die by the famine that shall come on the land through the desolations occasioned by the Chaldean army.

Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will punish them,..... Or, visit "them" (r); look into this matter, try this cause, bring it to an issue, and pass sentence on them; which is as follows:
the young men shall die by the sword; by the sword of the Chaldeans, in the field, going out in battle against them; or rather when their town was taken and plundered, since they were the sons of priests:
their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; that is, their little ones, male and female; so that the famine, it seems, was not only in Jerusalem at the time of its siege, but in other parts also: no mention is made of the parents themselves.
(r) "visitans super eos", Montanus, Schmidt; "visito", Pagninus, Vatablus, Cocceius.

The retribution of their intended murder shall be in kind; just as in Messiah's case (Psalm. 69:8-28).