The Vision of Slaughter

9 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud ^(A)voice saying, “Draw near, ^[a]O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” ² Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was ^(B)a certain man clothed in linen with a ^[b]writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Then the ^(C)glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the ^[c]temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. ⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a ^(D)mark on the foreheads of the men who ^(E)sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” ⁵ But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. ^6 [d]Utterly ^(F)slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not ^(G)touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall ^(H)start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the ^[e]elders who were before the ^[f]temple. ⁷ And He said to them, “^(I)Defile the ^[g]temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. ⁸ As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I ^(J)fell on my face and cried out ^[h]saying, “^(K)Alas, Lord ^[i]God! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel ^[j]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

⁹ Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is ^(L)filled with blood and the city is ^(M)full of perversion; for ^(N)they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ¹⁰ But as for Me, ^(O)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but ^(P)I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”

¹¹ Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the ^[k]writing case ^[l]reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, in the ^[m](Q)expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a ^(R)sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a ^(S)throne, appeared above them. ² And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the ^(T)whirling wheels under the ^[n]cherubim and fill your hands with ^(U)coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

³ Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the ^[o]temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ^(V)inner court. ⁴ Then the ^(W)glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the ^(X)temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the ^(Y)brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the ^(Z)voice of ^[p]God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶ It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹ Then I looked, and behold, ^(AA)four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a ^[q](AB)Tarshish stone. ¹⁰ As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they went ^(AC)in any of their four ^[r]directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which ^[s]they faced, without turning as they went. ¹² Their ^(AD)whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the ^(AE)wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. ¹³ The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. ¹⁴ And ^(AF)each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ Then the cherubim rose up. They are the ^(AG)living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶ Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. ¹⁷ When ^[t]the cherubim ^(AH)stood still, ^[u]the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, ^[v]the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood ^(AI)over the cherubim. ¹⁹ When ^(AJ)the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel ^[w]hovered over them.

²⁰ These are the ^(AK)living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by ^(AL)the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. ^21 (AM)Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. ²² As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(A)ministry, as we ^(B)received mercy, we ^(C)do not lose heart, ² but we have renounced the ^(D)things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or ^(E)adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth ^(F)commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our ^(G)gospel is ^(H)veiled, it is veiled ^[a]to ^(I)those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case ^(J)the god of ^(K)this ^[b]world has ^(L)blinded the minds of the unbelieving ^[c]so that they might not see the ^(M)light of the gospel of the ^(N)glory of Christ, who is the ^(O)image of God. ⁵ For we ^(P)do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants ^[d]for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “^(Q)Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^(R)shone in our hearts to give the ^(S)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^(T)earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of ^(U)the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are ^(V)afflicted in every way, but not ^(W)crushed; ^(X)perplexed, but not despairing; ^9 (Y)persecuted, but not ^(Z)forsaken; ^(AA)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (AB)always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^(AC)the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death works in us, but life in you.

¹³ But having the same ^(AD)spirit of faith, according to what is written, “^(AE)I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, ¹⁴ knowing that He who ^(AF)raised the Lord Jesus ^(AG)will raise us also with Jesus and will ^(AH)present us with you. ¹⁵ For all things are ^(AI)for your sakes, so that the grace which is ^[e](AJ)spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

¹⁶ Therefore we ^(AK)do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our ^(AL)inner man is ^(AM)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For momentary, ^(AN)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we ^(AO)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.