1. Then he cried aloud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city!
2. And there were six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with a weapon of destruction in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a scribe’s case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.
3. Then the glory of the God of Israel moved off the cherub and went up to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen with the scribe’s case at his waist,
4. and the Lord said to him: Pass through the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark an X on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the abominations practiced within it.
5. To the others he said in my hearing: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not let your eyes spare; do not take pity.
6. Old and young, male and female, women and children—wipe them out! But do not touch anyone marked with the X. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
7. Defile the temple, he said to them, fill its courts with the slain. Then go out and strike in the city.