Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will punish
them
. Or, visit "them" F18; 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.