1 Then he shouted loudly in my ears saying, “The punishment of the city is near; see each one of these has in his hand his instrument of de struction.”
2 And six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each one with his instrument of destruction. With them was a man clothed in linen with writing material at his side. They came and stopped near the altar of bronze.
3 Then the Glory of the God of Israel rose from the cherubim where it rested and went to the threshold of the house. Yahweh called to the man clothed in linen who had the material for writing at his side,
4 and he said to him, “Pass through the center of the city, through Jerusalem, and trace a cross on the forehead of the men who sigh and groan because of all the abominations committed in it.”
5 I heard him say to the others, “Now you may pass through the city after him and strike. Your eyes shall not look with pity; show no mercy! Do away with them all –
6 old men, young men, virgins, children and women – but do not touch anyone marked with a cross.”
And as they were told to be gin with the sanctuary, they struck the elders who were in front of the Temple.
7 Yahweh said to them, “Let the courts be filled with the slain and the Temple be defiled with their blood; go out!”
They went and slew the people in the city.
8 While they were slaying the people, I fell on my face and cried out saying, “Ah, Yahweh! Are you going to destroy all that is left of Israel, and unleash your fury against Jerusalem?”
9 He said to me, “The sin of Israel and Judah is very great; the land is filled with blood and the city full of perversion. For they say: ‘Yahweh has forsaken the land; Yahweh does not see.’
10 I too will be without pity; I will show no mercy and I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”
11 Then the man clothed in linen who brought the writing kit reported, “I have done what you ordered.”