9Then he shouted with a loud voice in my ears, “You who are chosen to punish this city, come near with your weapon in your hand.” ²Then six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his powerful weapon in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing case at his side. The men went in and stood by the bronze altar.

³Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the creatures with wings, where it had been, to the place in the Temple where the door opened. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing case at his side. ⁴He said to the man, “Go through Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and cry about all the hateful things being done among them.”

⁵As I listened, he said to the other men, “Go through the city behind the man dressed in linen and kill. Don’t pity anyone, and don’t show mercy. ⁶Kill and destroy old men, young men and women, little children, and older women, but don’t touch any who have the mark on them. Start at my Temple.” So they started with the elders who were in front of the Temple.

⁷Then he said to the men, “Make the Temple unclean, and fill the courtyards with those who have been killed. Go out!” So the men went out and killed the people in the city. ⁸While the men were killing the people, I was left alone. I bowed facedown on the ground and I cried out, “Oh, Lord God! Will you destroy everyone left alive in Israel when you turn loose your anger on Jerusalem?”

⁹Then he said to me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is very great. The land is filled with people who murder, and the city is full of people who are not fair. The people say, ‘The Lord has left the land, and the Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰But I will have no pity, nor will I show mercy. I will bring their evil back on their heads.”

¹¹Then the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his side reported, “I have done just as you commanded me.”

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