Ezekiel 9

9 ¹ Then he cried out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, "Come here, you who are appointed over the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand." ² Six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was one man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Now the glory of our Father had risen up from above the cherub where it had rested, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing case at his side.

⁴ And our Father said to him, "Walk through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who sigh and groan over all the abominations committed there." ¹ 1 v4 Those marked for safety are the ones whose hearts break over the sin around them — our Father spares and seals the children who grieve what grieves him.

⁵ And to the others he said in my hearing, "Pass through the city after him and strike. Do not let your eye spare, and do not show pity. ⁶ Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women — kill them all. But do not come near anyone who has the mark, and begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were before the house.

⁷ Then he said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the courts with the dead. Go out!" So they went out and struck down people in the city.

⁸ And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell on my face and cried out, "Ah, Sovereign Father! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel as you pour out your fury upon Jerusalem?"

⁹ Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed and the city full of injustice, for they say, 'Our Father has forsaken the land, and our Father does not see.' ¹⁰ And as for me, I will not spare them, nor will I show pity. I will bring their own deeds down on their own heads."

¹¹ Then the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side, reported back and said, "I have done as you commanded me."