God

And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!

Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

Then He told them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”

He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’

But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

Then the man clothed in linen with the writing kit at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded.”

And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.

Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim.

As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people.

And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.

And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: “That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.

You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD.

I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.

You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel.

Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,