Ezekiel, 9

1. Then he shouted loudly for me to hear, 'The scourges of the city are approaching, each carrying his weapon of destruction!'

2. Immediately six men advanced from the upper north gate, each holding a deadly weapon. Among them was a man dressed in linen, with a scribe's ink-horn in his belt. They came in and halted in front of the bronze altar.

3. The glory of the God of Israel rose from above the winged creature where it had been, towards the threshold of the Temple. He called to the man dressed in linen with a scribe's ink-horn in his belt

4. and Yahweh said to him, 'Go all through the city, all through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of all who grieve and lament over all the loathsome practices in it.'

5. I heard him say to the others, 'Follow him through the city and strike. Not one glance of pity; show no mercy;

6. old men, young men, girls, children, women, kill and exterminate them all. But do not touch anyone with a cross on his forehead. Begin at my sanctuary.' So they began with the old men who were in the Temple.

7. He said to them, 'Defile the Temple; fill the courts with corpses; then go out!' They went out and hacked their way through the city.

8. While they were hacking them down, I was left alone; I fell on my face, crying out, 'Ah, Lord Yahweh, are you going to annihilate all that is left of Israel by venting your fury on Jerusalem?'

9. He said, 'The guilt of the House of Israel and Judah is immense; the country is full of bloodshed, the city full of perversity, for they say, "Yahweh has abandoned the country, Yahweh cannot see."

10. Then, I too shall neither give one glance of pity nor show any mercy. I shall repay them for what they have done.'

11. The man dressed in linen with the scribe's ink-horn in his belt then came back and made his report, 'I have carried out your orders.'