Ezekiel 9

The Wicked are Slain

9Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a ¹deadly weapon in his hand.” ²And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his ²battle-ax in his hand. ^aOne man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn ³at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Now ^bthe glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the ⁴temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; ⁴and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put ^ca mark on the foreheads of the men ^dwho sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

⁵To the others He said in my ⁵hearing, “Go after him through the city and ^ekill; ^6fdo not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. ^6gUtterly ⁷slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but ^hdo not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and ⁱbegin at My sanctuary.” ^jSo they began with the elders who were before the ⁸temple. ⁷Then He said to them, “Defile the ⁹temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.

⁸So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I ^kfell on my face and cried out, and said, ^l“Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”

⁹Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and ^mthe land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ⁿ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and ^othe Lord does not see!’ ¹⁰And as for Me also, My ^peye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but ^qI will recompense their deeds on their own head.”

¹¹Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”