1 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. 16:8
9:1-111 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
God cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, [1]
Tell the men with destroying weapons to come here.
2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
Six men with slaughter weapons came and stood beside the altar. [2]
One was dressed in linen and had writing utensils in his hand.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
God called to the man in linen, and said to him,
4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Put a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry about the abominations. [3]
5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
God said to the other men,
Go through the city and kill everyone.
Don't spare or have pity on anyone.
6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Kill everyone: young, old, little children, and women,
except for men who have the mark on their foreheads.
Start in the temple by killing all the elders.
7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
Defile my house by dumping the dead bodies in the courtyard.
And the men went through the city killing people.
8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
While they were doing that, I fell on my face and said to God,
OMG! Will you in your fury kill everyone in Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
God said
Yes, they deserve it, because they said, "God has forsaken the earth and can't see."
10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
So I won't spare or have pity on any of them.
11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
I've done what you commanded.
I didn't include this story in Drunk With Blood, since it seems to be a continuation of Ezekiel's vision from the last chapter, rather than an actual God-commanded slaughter.
But who know? This is Ezekiel!
The "men" here are probably not men but angels, like the "men" who God sent to destroy Sodom in Genesis 19.
(See verses 10, 12, and 16 where these angels are called "men".)
God sends a man clothed with linen to mark the foreheads of the men who will be saved.
Apparently only men are considered good enough to keep, the others (unmarked men, women, and little children) are to be slaughtered. God says he'll "fill the courts with the slain" and will have pity on no one.
