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።
Judgment on the Idolaters
1Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” 2And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
5As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
7Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. 8While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ 10So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”
11Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”
