9:1 Then he shouted in my hearing1 with a loud voice, “Approach, you executioners of the city, each with his destructive weapon in his hand!” 9:2 I saw six men2 coming from the direction of the upper gate3 which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit4 at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.
9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple.5 He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem6 and put a mark7 on the foreheads of the men who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
9:5 While I listened, he said to the others,8 “Go through the city after him and strike people down; you must neither show pity nor spare anyone!9 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women—wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark! Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.10
9:7 He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with corpses. Go out!” So they went out and struck down people throughout the city. 9:8 While they were killing, I was left alone, and I threw myself down with my face to the ground and cried out, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your rage on Jerusalem?”
9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice11 for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’12 9:10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare them; I will repay them for what they have done.”13
9:11 Then the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word: “I have done as you commanded me.”
God’s Glory Leaves the Temple