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The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel Chapter 9

  

The Slaughter of the Idolaters

1
THEN

He called out with a loud voice in my hearing, saying, “Draw near, you men who are in charge of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.”  2  And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, and each his deadly weapon in his hand. There was another man among them who was clothed in linen, and he had a writing kit at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherub, where he had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side;  4  and the Lord said to him, “Go through the city, throughout the city of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Follow him through the city and kill; do let not your eye spare, neither are you to have pity.  6  Slaughter the old men, the young men and the maidens, women and little children, but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.  7  Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

8 While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Ah Lord God! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

9 He answered me, “The iniquity of the Houses of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see’.  10  As for Me, My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will bring their deeds down on their own heads.”

11  Then the man clothed in linen with the writing kit at his side reported back, saying, “I have done as You commanded me.”