Ἰεζεκιήλ 9

1 καὶ ἀνέκραγεν εἰς τὰ ὦτά μου φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγων ἤγγικεν ἡ ἐκδίκησις τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἕκαστος εἶχεν τὰ σκεύη τῆς ἐξολεθρεύσεως ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ

Then I heard him shout out with a loud voice, “Start the attack, you who are in charge of punishing Jerusalem! Pick up your weapons!”

2 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἓξ ἄνδρες ἤρχοντο ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς πύλης τῆς ὑψηλῆς τῆς βλεπούσης πρὸς βορρᾶν καὶ ἑκάστου πέλυξ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἷς ἀνὴρ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν ἐνδεδυκὼς ποδήρη καὶ ζώνη σαπφείρου ἐπὶ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰσήλθοσαν καὶ ἔστησαν ἐχόμενοι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ χαλκοῦ

I watched as six men approached from the upper gate that faces north. All of them were carrying battle axes. There was another man with them. He was dressed in linen and had a scribe's writing kit at his side. They entered and stood next to the bronze altar.

3 καὶ δόξα θεοῦ τοῦ Ισραηλ ἀνέβη ἀπὸ τῶν χερουβιν ἡ οὖσα ἐπ’ αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ αἴθριον τοῦ οἴκου καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἐνδεδυκότα τὸν ποδήρη ὃς εἶχεν ἐπὶ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ τὴν ζώνην

The glory of the God of Israel rose from its usual place on the cherubim and went over to the Temple entrance. The Lord called out to the man dressed in linen with the writing kit,

4 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν δίελθε μέσην τὴν Ιερουσαλημ καὶ δὸς τὸ σημεῖον ἐπὶ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν καταστεναζόντων καὶ τῶν κατωδυνωμένων ἐπὶ πάσαις ταῖς ἀνομίαις ταῖς γινομέναις ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς

“Go through the whole the city of Jerusalem and place a mark on the foreheads of those who sighing and mourning at all the disgusting sins that are done there.”

5 καὶ τούτοις εἶπεν ἀκούοντός μου πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ κόπτετε καὶ μὴ φείδεσθε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν καὶ μὴ ἐλεήσητε

Then I heard him tell the others, “Follow him all through the city and start killing people. Don't be kind or merciful to anyone!

6 πρεσβύτερον καὶ νεανίσκον καὶ παρθένον καὶ νήπια καὶ γυναῖκας ἀποκτείνατε εἰς ἐξάλειψιν ἐπὶ δὲ πάντας ἐφ’ οὕς ἐστιν τὸ σημεῖον μὴ ἐγγίσητε καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μου ἄρξασθε καὶ ἤρξαντο ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων οἳ ἦσαν ἔσω ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ

Kill the old men, the young men and girls, the women and children, but do not go anywhere near those who have the mark. Start at my sanctuary.” So they started by killing the elders who were in front of the Temple.

7 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς μιάνατε τὸν οἶκον καὶ πλήσατε τὰς ὁδοὺς νεκρῶν ἐκπορευόμενοι καὶ κόπτετε

Then he told them, “Make the Temple unclean and fill the courtyards with dead bodies. Go ahead and do it!” So they went and started killing all through the city.

8 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ κόπτειν αὐτοὺς καὶ πίπτω ἐπὶ πρόσωπόν μου καὶ ἀνεβόησα καὶ εἶπα οἴμμοι κύριε ἐξαλείφεις σὺ τοὺς καταλοίπους τοῦ Ισραηλ ἐν τῷ ἐκχέαι σε τὸν θυμόν σου ἐπὶ Ιερουσαλημ

While they were busy killing people, I was left by myself. I fell facedown to the ground and cried out, “Lord God, when you pour out your anger on Jerusalem, are you going to destroy everyone who's left in Israel?”

9 καὶ εἶπεν πρός με ἀδικία τοῦ οἴκου Ισραηλ καὶ Ιουδα μεμεγάλυνται σφόδρα σφόδρα ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ λαῶν πολλῶν καὶ ἡ πόλις ἐπλήσθη ἀδικίας καὶ ἀκαθαρσίας ὅτι εἶπαν ἐγκαταλέλοιπεν κύριος τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἐφορᾷ ὁ κύριος

“The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are really terrible,” he replied. “The whole country is full of murderers, and those living in the city are criminals. They're saying, ‘The Lord has given up on our country. He can't see what we're doing.’

10 καὶ οὐ φείσεταί μου ὁ ὀφθαλμός οὐδὲ μὴ ἐλεήσω τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν δέδωκα

But I certainly won't be kind to them or have mercy on them. I will make sure they suffer the consequences of what they've done.”

11 καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ ἐνδεδυκὼς τὸν ποδήρη καὶ ἐζωσμένος τῇ ζώνῃ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων πεποίηκα καθὼς ἐνετείλω μοι

Then the man in linen with the writing kit returned and reported, “I've done what you told me to do.”