Ezekiel 9

Chapter 9

The Vision of Slaughter

¹Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud ^avoice saying, “Draw near, ¹O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.”

²Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was ^aa certain man clothed in linen with a ¹writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Then the ^aglory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the ¹temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.

⁴The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a ^amark on the foreheads of the men who ^bsigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

⁵But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.

⁶“¹Utterly ^aslay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not ^btouch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall ^cstart from My sanctuary.” So they started with the ²elders who were before the ³temple.

⁷And He said to them, “^aDefile the ¹temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city.

⁸As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I ^afell on my face and cried out ¹saying, “^bAlas, Lord ²God! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel ³by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

⁹Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is ^afilled with blood and the city is ^bfull of perversion; for ^cthey say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’

¹⁰“But as for Me, ^aMy eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but ^bI will bring their conduct upon their heads.”

¹¹Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the ¹writing case ²reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”