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And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins, and downward, fire: and from his loins, and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of amber.

And the likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy.

And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain.

And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north. And I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry.

And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.

And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall.

And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here.

10 And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abomination, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were painted on the wall all round about.

11 And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.

12 And he said to me: Surely thou seest, O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.

13 And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.

14 And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.

15 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun.

17 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose.

18 Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.

Abominations in the Temple

(A)In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, (B)as I sat in my house, with (C)the elders of Judah sitting before me, (D)the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. Then I looked, and behold, (E)a form that had the appearance of a man.[a] (F)Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like (G)gleaming metal.[b] He (H)put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up (I)between earth and heaven and (J)brought me in (K)visions of God to Jerusalem, (L)to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, (M)where was the seat of the (N)image of jealousy, (O)which provokes to jealousy. And behold, (P)the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw (Q)in the valley.

Then he said to me, (R)“Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of (S)the altar gate, in the entrance, was this (T)image of jealousy. And he said to me, “Son of man, (U)do you see what they are doing, (V)the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, (W)to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”

And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, “Son of man, (X)dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, “Go in, and see (Y)the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and saw. And there, (Z)engraved on the wall all around, was (AA)every form of (AB)creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 And before them stood (AC)seventy men of (AD)the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of (AE)Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and (AF)the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing (AG)in the dark, each (AH)in his room of pictures? For they say, (AI)‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 He said also to me, (AJ)“You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

14 Then he brought me to (AK)the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O (AL)son of man? (AM)You will see still greater abominations than these.”

16 And he brought me into (AN)the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, (AO)between the (AP)porch and (AQ)the altar, were about twenty-five men, (AR)with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping (AS)the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O (AT)son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit (AU)the abominations that they commit here, that (AV)they should fill the land with violence and (AW)provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their[c] nose. 18 Therefore (AX)I will act in wrath. (AY)My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. (AZ)And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 8:2 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew of fire
  2. Ezekiel 8:2 Or amber
  3. Ezekiel 8:17 Or my