Ezekiel 8

1 And it happened that, in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.

Now in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was in my house and the responsible men of Judah were seated before me, the hand of the Lord came on me there.

2 And I saw, and behold, there was an image with the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his waist, and downward, there was fire. And from his waist, and upward, there was the appearance of splendor, like the sight of amber.

And looking, I saw a form like fire; from the middle of his body and down there was fire: and up from the middle of his body a sort of shining, like electrum.

3 And as the image of a hand went out, it took hold of me by a lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven. And he brought me into Jerusalem, within a vision of God, next to the inner gate that looked toward the north, where there was stationed an idol of rivalry, so as to provoke an envious emulation.

And he put out the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the wind, lifting me up between the earth and the heaven, took me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the way into the inner door facing to the north; where was the seat of the image of envy.

4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, in accord with the vision that I had seen in the plain.

And I saw the glory of the Lord there, as in the vision which I saw in the valley.

5 And he said to me: “Son of man, lift up your eyes to the way of the north.” And I lifted up my eyes to the way of the north. And behold, from the north of the gate of the altar was the idol of rivalry, at the same entrance.

Then he said to me, Son of man, now let your eyes be lifted up in the direction of the north; and on looking in the direction of the north, to the north of the doorway of the altar, I saw this image of envy by the way in.

6 And he said to me: “Son of man, you see what these ones are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here. Do you not think, then, that I should withdraw far away from my own sanctuary? But if you turn again, you will see even greater abominations.”

And he said to me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? even the very disgusting things which the children of Israel are doing here, causing me to go far away from my holy place? but you will see other most disgusting things.

7 And he led me in by the door of the atrium. And I saw, and behold, there was an opening in the wall.

And he took me to the door of the open place; and looking, I saw a hole in the wall.

8 And he said to me: “Son of man, dig in the wall.” And when I had dug in the wall, there appeared one door.

And he said to me, Son of man, make a hole in the wall: and after making a hole in the wall I saw a door.

9 And he said to me: “Enter and see the most wicked abominations which they are committing here.”

And he said to me, Go in and see the evil and disgusting things which they are doing here.

10 And entering, I saw, and behold, every kind of image of reptiles and animals, the abominations, and all of the idols of the house of Israel were depicted on the wall all around, throughout the entire place.

So I went in and saw; and there every sort of living thing which goes flat on the earth, and unclean beasts, and all the images of the children of Israel, were pictured round about on the wall.

11 And there were seventy men out of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing in their midst, and they stood before the pictures. And each one had a censer in his hand. And a cloud of smoke rose up from the incense.

And before them seventy of the responsible men of the children of Israel had taken their places, every man with a vessel for burning perfumes in his hand, and in the middle of them was Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan; and a cloud of smoke went up from the burning perfume.

12 And he said to me: “Certainly, son of man, you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each one while hidden in his chamber. For they say: ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the earth.’”

And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the responsible men of the children of Israel do in the dark, every man in his room of pictured images? for they say, The Lord does not see us; the Lord has gone away from the land.

13 And he said to me: “If you turn again, you will see even greater abominations, which these ones are committing.”

Then he said to me, You will see even more disgusting things which they do.

14 And he led me in through the door of the gate of the Lord’s house, which looked toward the north. And behold, women were sitting there, mourning for Adonis.

Then he took me to the door of the way into the Lord's house looking to the north; and there women were seated weeping for Tammuz.

15 And he said to me: “Certainly, son of man, you have seen. But if you turn again, you will see even greater abominations than these.”

Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? you will see even more disgusting things than these.

16 And he led me into the inner atrium of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the vestibule and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east. And they were adoring toward the rising of the Sun.

And he took me into the inner square of the Lord's house, and at the door of the Temple of the Lord, between the covered way and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs turned to the Temple of the Lord and their faces turned to the east; and they were worshipping the sun, turning to the east.

17 And he said to me: “Certainly, son of man, you have seen. Can this be so trivial to the house of Judah, when they commit these abominations, just as they have committed here, that, having filled the earth with iniquity, they now turn to provoke me? And behold, they are applying a branch to their nose.

Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? is it a small thing to the children of Judah that they do the disgusting things which they are doing here? for they have made the land full of violent behaviour, making me angry again and again: and see, they put the branch to my nose.

18 Therefore, I also will act toward them in my fury. My eye will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. And when they will have cried out to my ears with a loud voice, I will not heed them.”

For this reason I will let loose my wrath: my eye will not have mercy, and I will have no pity.