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And it was done in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I sat in mine house, and the eld men of Judah sat before me (I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me); and the hand of the Lord God fell there [up]on me.

And I saw, and lo! a likeness as the beholding of fire; from the beholding of his loins and beneath was fire, and from his loins and above was as the beholding of shining, as the sight of electrum, [that is, metal made of gold and silver, brighter than gold]. (And I saw, and lo! a form with the appearance of fire; from his loins and beneath was like the appearance of fire, and from his loins and above was like the appearance of shining, like the sight of electrum, that is, a metal made of gold and silver, but even brighter than gold.)

And the likeness of an hand was sent out, and took me by the hair, either locks, of mine head; and the spirit raised me [up] betwixt heaven and earth, and brought me into Jerusalem, in the sight of God, beside the inner door that beheld to the north (in the vision of God, beside the inner door that faced north), where the idol of envy was set, to stir indignation.

And lo! the glory of God of Israel was there, by the sight which I saw in the field. (And lo! the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision which I saw in the field.)

And he said to me, Thou, son of man, raise up thine eyes to the way of the north; and I raised (up) mine eyes to the way of the north, and lo! from the north of the gate of the altar, the idol of envy was in that entering (and lo! north of the gate of the altar, at the entrance, was that idol of envy).

And he said to me, Son of man, guessest thou whether thou seest what thing these men do, the great abominations which the house of Israel doeth here, that I go far away from my saintuary? and yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations. (And he said to me, Son of man, seest thou what things these people do, yea, the great abominations which the house of Israel doeth here, so that I must go far away from my sanctuary? and yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations than these!)

And he led me within to the door of the foreyard; and I saw, and lo! one hole in the wall. (And he led me within to the entrance of the courtyard; and I saw, and lo! a hole in the wall.)

And he said to me, Son of man, dig thou (in) the wall; and when I had digged (in) the wall, one door appeared.

And he said to me, Enter thou, and see the worst abominations, which these men do here.

10 And I entered, and saw; and lo! each likeness of reptiles, either creeping beasts, and abominations of beasts, and all [the] idols of the house of Israel, were painted in the wall all about in compass (were painted on the walls all around).

11 And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood; and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, stood in the midst of them, standing before the paintings; and each man had a censer in his hand, and the smoke of a cloud of incense went up.

12 And he said to me, Certainly, son of man, thou seest what things the elder men of the house of Israel do in darknesses, each man in the hid place of his bed; for they say, The Lord seeth not us, the Lord hath forsaken the land (for they say, The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath abandoned the land/the Lord hath deserted the country).

13 And the Lord said to me, Yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations, which these men do.

14 And he led me within, by the door of the gate of the house of the Lord, which door beheld to the north; and lo! women sat there, bewailing Adonis. (And he led me within, by the entrance of the gate of the House of the Lord, which entrance faced north; and lo! women sat there, bewailing Tammuz.)

15 And the Lord said to me, Certainly, son of man, thou hast seen (And the Lord said to me, Truly, son of man, hast thou seen this?/do thou see this?); yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations than these.

16 And he led me within, into the inner foreyard of the house of the Lord; and lo! in the door of the temple of the Lord, betwixt the porch and the altar, were as five and twenty men having the(ir) backs against the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east; and they worshipped at the rising of the sun. (And he led me within, to the inner courtyard of the House of the Lord; and lo! by the entrance to the Temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were twenty-five men with their backs against the Temple of the Lord, and their faces turned toward the east; and they worshipped the rising of the sun.)

17 And the Lord said to me, Certainly, son of man, thou hast seen (And the Lord said to me, Truly, son of man, hast thou seen this?/do thou see this?); whether this is a light thing to the house of Judah, that they should do these abominations, which they did here? For they filled the land with wickedness, and turned (again) to stir me to wrath; and lo! they apply a branch to their nostrils.

18 Therefore and I shall do in strong vengeance; mine eye shall not spare, neither I shall do mercy; and when they shall cry to mine ears with great voice, I shall not hear them. (And so I shall do strong vengeance against them; my eyes shall not spare them, nor shall I have mercy on them; and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I shall not hear them.)

Idolatry in the Temple

In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders(A) of Judah were sitting before(B) me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there.(C) I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.[a] From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.(D) He stretched out what looked like a hand(E) and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up(F) between earth and heaven and in visions(G) of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court,(H) where the idol that provokes to jealousy(I) stood. And there before me was the glory(J) of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.(K)

Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol(L) of jealousy.

And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable(M) things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary?(N) But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.

And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls(O) all kinds of crawling things and unclean(P) animals and all the idols of Israel.(Q) 11 In front of them stood seventy elders(R) of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer(S) in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense(T) was rising.(U)

12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness,(V) each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see(W) us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”

14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz.(X) 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”

16 He then brought me into the inner court(Y) of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar,(Z) were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun(AA) in the east.(AB)

17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things(AC) they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence(AD) and continually arouse my anger?(AE) Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger;(AF) I will not look on them with pity(AG) or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen(AH) to them.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 8:2 Or saw a fiery figure