የጣዖት አምላኪዎች መገደል
1ከዚያም እኔ እየሰማሁ ከፍ ባለ ድምፅ፣ “እያንዳንዳቸው በእጃቸው የጦር መሣሪያ የያዙ፣ ከተማዪቱን የሚቀጡ ወደዚህ ይምጡ” ብሎ ከፍ ባለ ድምፅ ጮኸ። 2እነሆም፤ አጥፊ የሆነ የጦር መሣሪያ በእጃቸው የያዙ ስድስት ሰዎች በሰሜን አቅጣጫ ካለው ከላይኛው በር መጡ፤ ከእነርሱም ጋር ቀጭን በፍታ የለበሰ፣ በጐኑም የጽሕፈት ዕቃ ማኅደር ያነገበ ሰው ነበር። እነርሱም ገብተው በናሱ መሠዊያ አጠገብ ቆሙ።
3በዚህ ጊዜ የእስራኤል አምላክ ክብር ከነበረበት ከኪሩብ በላይ ተነሥቶ ወደ ቤተ መቅደሱ መድረክ ሄደ። እግዚአብሔርም በፍታ የለበሰውን በጐኑም የጽሕፈት ዕቃ ማኅደር ያነገበውን ሰው ጠራ፤ 4እግዚአብሔርም፣ “በኢየሩሳሌም ከተማ ሁሉ ሂድና በውስጧ ስለ ተሠራው ጸያፍ ተግባር ሲያዝኑና ሲያለቅሱ በነበሩ ሰዎች ግንባር ላይ ምልክት አድርግ” አለው።
5እኔም እየሰማሁ፣ ለሌሎቹ እንዲህ አለ፤ “በከተማዋ ሁሉ እርሱን ተከትላችሁ ግደሉ፤ ዐዘኔታና ርኅራኄ አታሳዩ፤ ግደሉ፤ 6ሽማግሌውን፣ ጕልማሳውንና ልጃገረዲቱን፤ ሴቶችንና ሕፃናትን ፈጽማችሁ አጥፉ፤ ነገር ግን ምልክቱ ያለበትን ሰው አትንኩ፤ ከቤተ መቅደሴም ጀምሩ።” ስለዚህ በቤተ መቅደሱ ፊት ለፊት ከነበሩት ሽማግሌዎች ጀመሩ።
7እርሱም፣ “ቤተ መቅደሴን አርክሱ፤ አደባባዩንም ሬሳ በሬሳ አድርጉ፤ ሂዱ!” አላቸው። እነርሱም ወጥተው በከተማዪቱ ሁሉ እየተዘዋወሩ መግደል ጀመሩ። 8እነርሱ እየገደሉ እኔም ብቻዬን ሳለሁ፣ በግንባሬ ተደፍቼ፣ “ወዮ! ልዑል እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ላይ መዓትህን አውርደህ የእስራኤልን ቅሬታዎች ሁሉ ልታጠፋ ነውን?” በማለት ጮኽሁ።
9እርሱም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰልኝ፤ “የእስራኤልና የይሁዳ ቤት ኀጢአት እጅግ በዝቷል፤ ምድሪቱ በደም ተጥለቅልቃለች፤ ከተማዪቱም ግፍን ተሞልታለች። እነርሱ፣ ‘እግዚአብሔር ምድሪቱን ትቷታል፤ እግዚአብሔር አያይም’ ይላሉ፤ 10እኔም የሠሩትን ሥራ በራሳቸው ላይ እመልስባቸዋለሁ እንጂ በርኅራኄ ዐይን አላያቸውም፤ ከሚመጣባቸውም ነገር አላድናቸውም።”
11እነሆ በፍታ የለበሰውና በጐኑም የጽሕፈት ዕቃ ማኅደር ያነገበው ሰው ተመልሶ፣ “እንዳዘዝኸው ፈጽሜአለሁ” አለ።
The Lord Judges Those Who Worship Other Gods
1Then I heard the Lord call out in a loud voice. He said, “Bring here those who are appointed to bring my judgment on the city. Make sure each of them has a weapon in his hand.” 2I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate. It faces north. Each of them had a deadly weapon in his hand. A man wearing linen clothes came along with them. He was carrying a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3The glory of the God of Israel had been above the cherubim. It moved from there to the doorway of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man who was dressed in linen clothes. He had the writing kit. 4The Lord said to him, “Go all through Jerusalem. Look for those who are sad and sorry about all the things being done there. I hate those things. Put a mark on the foreheads of those people.”
5I heard him speak to the six men. He said, “Follow him through the city. Do not show any pity or concern. 6Kill the old men and women, the young men and women, and the children. But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Start at my temple.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
7Then he said to the men, “Make the temple ‘unclean.’ Fill the courtyards with dead bodies. Go!” So they went out and started killing people all through the city. 8While they were doing it, I was left alone. I fell with my face toward the ground. I cried out, “Lord and King, are you going to destroy all the Israelites who are still left alive? Will you pour out your great anger on all those who remain in Jerusalem?”
9He answered me, “The sin of Israel and Judah is very great. The land is full of murderers. Its people are not being fair to one another anywhere in Jerusalem. They say, ‘The Lord has deserted the land. He doesn’t see us.’ 10So I will not spare them or feel sorry for them. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.”
11Then the man wearing linen clothes returned. He had the writing kit. He reported, “I’ve done what you commanded.”
