| Now the glory of the God of Israel
had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the
temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's
inkhorn at his side; |
| and the Lord said to him, "Go
through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a
mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the
abominations that are done within it." |
| To the others He said in my
hearing, "Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye
spare, nor have any pity. |
| "Utterly slay old and young men,
maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on
whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." So they began with the
elders who were before the temple. |
| Then He said to them, "Defile the
temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" And they went out and
killed in the city. |
| So it was, that while they were
killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and
said, "Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring
out Your fury on Jerusalem?" |
| 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 perversity; for they say, 'The
Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!' |
| "And as for Me also, My eye will
neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on
their own head." |