First ReadingEzekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22
From the Book of Ezekiel
1Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice,saying, “Cause thosewho are in charge of the city to draw near,each man with his destroying weapon in his hand.”2Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate,which lies toward the north,every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand.One man in the middle of them was clothed in linen,with a writer’s inkhorn by his side.They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.
3The glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub,whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house;and he called to the man clothed in linen,who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side.4The Lord said to him,“Go through the middle of the city,through the middle of Jerusalem,and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh andthat cry over all the abominationsthat are done within it.”
5To the others he said in my hearing,“Go through the city after him, and strike.Don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity.6Kill utterly the old man,the young man, the virgin,little children and women;but don’t come near any man on whom is the mark.Begin at my sanctuary.”
Then they began at the old men who were before the house.
7He said to them, “Defile the house,and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!”
They went out, and struck in the city.
some verses are not read18The Lord’s glory went out from over the threshold of the houseand stood over the cherubim.19The cherubim lifted up their wingsand mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went out,with the wheels beside them.Then they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house;and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
20This is the living creaturethat I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar;and I knew that they were cherubim.21Every one had four faces, and every one four wings.The likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.22As for the likeness of their faces,they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar,their appearances and themselves.They each went straight forward.