But to the others He said in my presence, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.
Parallel translations
- WEB To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him, and strike. Don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity.
- KJV And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
- BSB And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!
- NKJV To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.
- NLT Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity!
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 orders the executioners to follow and strike without pity. It shows the severity of judgment on the unmarked, unrepentant.
Overview
The command to show no pity echoes the warning of 8:18, underscoring that judgment is thorough and just. Those who did not grieve over sin share in its consequences. The contrast with the marked remnant highlights that God distinguishes between the penitent and the hardened. This sobering scene magnifies the mercy of being marked, a mercy secured for believers in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ezek 5:11Therefore as I live,’ says the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you. My eye won’t spare, and I will have no pity.
- Deut 32:39–42“See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.
- 1 Sam 9:15Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying,
- Ezek 7:4My eye will not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations will be among you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’
- Isa 22:14Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Ezek 8:18Therefore will I also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”
- Ezek 7:9My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. I will bring on you according to your ways. Your abominations will be among you; and you will know that I, Yahweh, strike.
- Isa 5:9In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
- Num 25:7–8When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.
- Ezek 9:10As for me also, my eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.”
- Ezek 24:14I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh.
- 1 Kgs 18:40Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
- Exod 32:27He said to them, “Yahweh says, the God of Israel, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:5 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.