1Then he exclaimed in my ears
in a loud voice and said, “Draw up the city's body of officers, with each
man having his weapon of destruction in his hand.”
2And it so
happened that six men were coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces northwards, each
with his weapon for bludgeoning in his hand, and one man among them dressed
in fine linen, with a scribe's inkhorn at his waist, and they came and stood alongside the copper altar.
3And the glory of the God of Israel was removed from the cherub on which it was, to the threshold of the house. And he called out to the man who
was dressed
in fine linen, who
had a scribe's inkhorn at his waist,
4and the
Lord said to him, “Pass through the middle of the city – through the middle of Jerusalem – and
put a mark on the foreheads of
those men who are sighing and groaning about all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”
5And to those
officers he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Do not let your eye have pity, and do not show compassion.
6You shall kill, giving no quarter, the old, the young man and the virgin, and children and women, but do not approach any person who
has the mark on him, and start from my sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who
were in front of the house.
7And he said to them, “Defile the house and fill the courts
with those killed. Out you go.” So they went out and struck in the city.
8And it came to pass, as they were striking, that I was left, and I fell face down, and I cried out, and I said, “Alas, my
Lord the
Lord, are you destroying the whole remainder of Israel, as you pour out your fury over Jerusalem?”
9And he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah
is very, very great, and the land has been filled
with blood
shed, and the city is full of wresting
of justice, for they have said, ‘The
Lord has left the earth’, and, ‘The
Lord is not looking.’
10So for my part, my eye will not have pity, and I will not show compassion. I will put their way on their head.”
11And then the man dressed
in fine linen, who
had the inkhorn at his waist, reported back and said, “I have done what you commanded.”
Reference(s) in Chapter 9: v.4 ↔ Revelation 7:3, Revelation 9:4.