The Babylonian Exile

And he caused me to enter at the gate of the court: and when I looked, beholde, an hole was in the wall.

Then said he vnto me, Sonne of man, digge nowe in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, beholde, there was a doore.

And he said vnto mee, Go in, and beholde the wicked abominations that they doe here.

So I went in, and sawe, and beholde, there was euery similitude of creeping thinges and abominable beasts and all the idoles of the house of Israel painted vpon the wall round about.

And there stoode before them seuentie men of the Ancients of the house of Israel, and in the middes of them stoode Iaazaniah, ye sonne of Shaphan, with euerie man his censour in his hand, and the vapour of the incense went vp like a cloude.

Then saide hee vnto mee, Sonne of man, hast thou seene what the Ancients of the house of Israel do in the darke, euery one in the chamber of his imagerie? for they say, The Lord seeth vs not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.

Againe he saide also vnto me, Turne thee againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they doe.

And he caused me to enter into the entrie of the gate of the Lords house, which was toward the North: and beholde there sate women mourning for Tammuz.

Then saide hee vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Turne thee againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations then these.

And he caused me to enter into the inner court of the Lordes house, and beholde, at the doore of the Temple of the Lord, betweene the porche and the altar were about fiue and twentie men with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord, and their faces towarde the East, and they worshipped the sunne, towarde the East.

The he said vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Is it a small thing to the house of Iudah to commit these abominations which they do here? for they haue filled the land with crueltie, and haue returned to prouoke mee: and loe, they haue cast out stinke before their noses.

Therefore will I also execute my wrath: mine eye shall not spare them, neither will I haue pitie, and though they crie in mine eares with a loude voyce, yet will I not heare them.

He cryed also with a loude voyce in mine eares, saying, The visitations of the citie draw neere, and euery man hath a weapon in his hande to destroy it.

And beholde, sixe men came by the way of the hie gate, which lieth towarde the North, and euery man a weapon in his hande to destroy it: and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writers ynkhorne by his side, and they went in and stoode beside the brasen altar.

And the glorie of the God of Israel was gone vp from ye Cherub, whereupon he was and stoode on the doore of the house, and he called to the man clothed with linnen, which had the writers ynkhorne by his side.

And the Lord said vnto him, Goe through the middes of the citie, euen through the middes of Ierusalem and set a marke vpon the foreheads of them that mourne, and cry for all the abominations that be done in the middes thereof.

And to the other he said, that I might heare, Goe ye after him through the citie, and smite: let your eye spare none, neither haue pitie.

Destroy vtterly the old, and the yong, and the maides, and the children, and the women, but touch no man, vpon whome is the marke, and begin at my Sanctuarie. Then they began at the Ancient men, which were before the house.

And he sayde vnto them, Defile the house, and fill the courtes with the slaine, then goe foorth: and they went out, and slewe them in the citie.

Nowe when they had slaine them, and I had escaped, I fell downe vpon my face, and cryed, saying, Ah Lord God, wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel, in powring out thy wrath vpon Ierusalem?

Then saide he vnto me, The iniquitie of the house of Israel, and Iudah is exceeding great, so that the lande is full of blood, and the citie full of corrupt iudgement: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth vs not.

As touching me also, mine eye shall not spare them, neither will I haue pitie, but will recompence their wayes vpon their heades.

And beholde, the man clothed with linen which had the ynkhorne by his side, made report, and saide, Lord, I haue done as thou hast commanded me.

And as I looked, beholde, in the firmament that was aboue the head of the Cherubims there appeared vpon them like vnto the similitude of a throne, as it were a saphir stone.

And he spake vnto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in betweene the wheeles, euen vnder the Cherub, and fill thine hands with coales of fire from betweene the Cherubims, and scatter the ouer the citie. And he went in in my sight.