Slaughter of the Idolators
1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, those who are in charge of the city, each man with a weapon of destruction in his hand.”
2 Six men came by way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughtering weapon in his hand. One man in the middle of them was clothed in linen, with a writer’s ink jar by his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 The glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, from where it was, to the threshold of the house, and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s ink jar by his side. 4 The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who groan and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
5 To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike them. Do not spare them, nor look on them with pity. 6 Utterly destroy the old men, the young men, the young ladies, the little children and the women, but do not come near anyone who bears the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.”
Then they began with the old men who were in front of the house.
7 He said to them, “Defile the house and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!”
They went out, killing people in the city.
8 While they were killing, and I was left alone, I fell on my face and cried and said, “Oh Lord GOD! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel in the pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversion, for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD doesn’t see us.’
10 As for me also, I will not spare them, nor will I look on them with pity, but I will bring all of their ways on their own heads.”
11 The man clothed in linen, who had the ink jar by his side, reported the matter, saying, “I have done as you have commanded me.”