Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with a weapon of destruction in hand.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, each man with his destroying weapon in his hand.”
- KJV He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
- NKJV Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.”
- NASB Then He cried out in my presence with a loud voice, saying, “Come forward, you executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.”
- NLT Then the Lord thundered, “Bring on the men appointed to punish the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God summons the executioners of the city, each armed for destruction. It begins the enactment of judgment against Jerusalem.
Overview
The loud cry signals the start of judgment, as God calls heavenly agents ("those in charge of the city") to carry out His sentence. These armed figures represent the instruments of divine wrath against persistent sin. The vision moves from diagnosis to execution. Yet even here judgment is ordered and purposeful, not chaotic, reflecting a God who judges righteously, as He does fully and finally through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 6:8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”
- Rev 1:10–11On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
- 2 Kgs 10:24And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.”
- 1 Chr 21:15Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Rev 14:7And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters.”
- Amos 3:7–8Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
- Ezek 43:6–7While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple,
- Exod 12:23When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
- Isa 10:6–7I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 9:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.