1 - And He crieth in mine ears--a loud voice--saying, `Drawn near have inspectors of the city, and each his destroying weapon in his hand.'
2 - And lo, six men are coming from the way of the upper gate, that is facing the north, and each his slaughter-weapon in his hand, and one man in their midst is clothed with linen, and a scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and they come in, and stand near the brazen altar.
3 - And the honour of the God of Israel hath gone up from off the cherub, on which it hath been, unto the threshold of the house.
4 - And He calleth unto the man who is clothed with linen, who hath the scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and Jehovah saith unto him, `Pass on into the midst of the city, into the midst of Jerusalem, and thou hast made a mark on the foreheads of the men who are sighing and who are groaning for all the abominations that are done in its midst.'
5 - And to the others he said in mine ears, `Pass on into the city after him, and smite; your eye doth not pity, nor do ye spare;
6 - aged, young man, and virgin, and infant, and women, ye do slay--to destruction; and against any man on whom <FI>is<Fi> the mark ye do not go nigh, and from My sanctuary ye begin.'
7 - And they begin among the aged men who <FI>are<Fi> before the house, and He saith unto them, `Defile the house, and fill the courts with the wounded, go forth.' And they have gone forth and have smitten in the city.
8 - And it cometh to pass, as they are smiting, and I--I am left--that I fall on my face, and cry, and say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, art Thou destroying all the remnant of Israel, in Thy pouring out Thy wrath on Jerusalem?'
9 - And He saith unto me, `The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah <FI>is<Fi> very very great, and the land is full of blood, and the city hath been full of perverseness, for they have said: Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah is not seeing.
10 - And I also, Mine eye doth not pity, nor do I spare; their way on their own head I have put.'
11 - And lo, the man clothed with linen, at whose loins <FI>is<Fi> the inkhorn, is bringing back word, saying, `I have done as Thou hast commanded me.'
