Ezekiel 9
What Happens in This Chapter
In a vision, Ezekiel sees God call six men with weapons to the temple, along with a man dressed in linen who carries a writing kit. God tells the man in linen to put a mark on the foreheads of people who grieve over the wrongs done in Jerusalem, and tells the others to kill everyone else, starting at the temple. Ezekiel falls down and asks whether everyone left in Israel will die. God answers that the wrong done by Israel and Judah is very great, and that he will pay the people back for what they have done; then the man in linen reports that he has done what he was told.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
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.
1Then God called out loudly, right by my ears. He said, "Come near, you men who will punish this city. Each one must have his weapon in his hand."
2And, 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.
2Then six men came from the Upper Gate, which faces north. Each man held a weapon for killing. One more man was with them, dressed in linen cloth. He carried a writing kit at his side. They all came in. They stood beside the bronze altar.
A "writer's inkhorn" was a small case of ink and pens that a writer carried on his belt. Today we would call it a writing kit.
3And 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;
3The bright glory of Israel's God had been resting above the cherubim, the winged creatures. Now it rose up and moved to the doorway of the temple. Then God called to the man dressed in linen, the one with the writing kit at his side.
4And 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.
4The LORD said to him, "Walk all through the middle of the city of Jerusalem. Some people are sad and groan about the awful things being done there. Put a mark on the foreheads of those people."
5And 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:
5While I listened, God spoke to the other men. He said, "Follow him through the city and start killing. Do not feel sorry for anyone. Do not spare anyone."
6Slay 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.
6"Kill the old men, the young men, and the young women. Kill the little children and the women too. But do not go near anyone who has the mark. Begin at my holy temple." So they began with the elders standing in front of the temple.
"Ancient men" here does not mean men from long ago. It means the elders, the older men who led the people.
7And 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.
7Then he said to them, "Make the temple unclean. Fill its yards with dead bodies. Now go out." So they went out and killed people all through the city.
To "defile" the temple means to make it no longer fit for worship. Under Israel's law, dead bodies made a place unclean.
8And 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?
8While they were killing, I was left there alone. I fell down with my face to the ground. I cried out, "Oh, Lord GOD! You are pouring out your anger on Jerusalem. Will you destroy everyone who is left in Israel?"
9Then 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.
9Then he said to me, "The people of Israel and Judah have done very great wrong. The land is full of killing. The city is full of crooked ways. They say, 'The LORD has left this land. The LORD does not see.'"
10And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
10"So I will not feel sorry for them. I will not spare them. I will pay them back for what they have done."
11And, 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.
11Then the man dressed in linen, with the writing kit at his side, came back. He reported, "I have done just what you told me to do."
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