A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear.

ט (Tet) Those who died by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, those who waste away, struck down from lack of food.

“‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘The sword of the king of Babylon will attack you.

I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall.

There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down; it will devour you like the young locust would.Multiply yourself like the young locust; multiply yourself like the flying locust!

“Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses while my temple is in ruins?

you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.

When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had chased them toward the desert (they all fell by the sword), all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.

Joab reported to David the number of warriors. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers.

So let their children die of starvation. Let them be cut down by the sword. Let their wives lose their husbands and children. Let the older men die of disease and the younger men die by the sword in battle.

“As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; say: “‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash like lightning –

“What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war!

They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left.

and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!”

I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. Although you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands.

“‘As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer.

They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand for you before your enemies.

And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, or the body of someone who died of natural causes, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days.

But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended.

And Balaam said to the donkey, “You have made me look stupid; I wish there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now.”