Ezekiel

Sentence and Execution

Then he loudly shouted in my ears, saying, “The punishment of the city is near; see, each one of these has his instrument of destruction in his hand.”

Six men approached from the north-facing upper gate, each carrying his weapon of destruction. Along with them was a man dressed in linen, with writing material at his side. They stopped near the bronze altar.

Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from the cherubim where it rested and moved to the threshold of the house. The Lord called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing materials at his side,

and he said to him: “Pass through the center of the city, through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan because of all the abominations committed in it.”

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—

—old men, young men, virgins, children, and women—but do not touch anyone marked with a cross.”And, as they were instructed to begin with the Sanctuary. And they struck the elders who were in front of the temple.

The Lord said to them: “Let the courts be filled with the slain and the temple be defiled with their blood: Go out!” They went and killed the people in the city.

While they were slaughtering the people, I fell on my face and cried out, saying: “Ah, the Lord! Are you going to destroy all that is left of Israel and unleash your fury against Jerusalem?”

He told me: “The sin of Israel and Judah is very great; the land is full of blood, and the city is full of corruption. For they say: ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; the Lord does not see.’

I, too, will have no mercy; I will show no compassion; and I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

Then the man dressed in linen, who brought the writing kit, reported: “I have done what you ordered.”