< Ezekiel 8 >
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], on the fifth of the month, that [as] I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me.
So it came about in the sixth year and the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh again fell upon me there.
2 And I looked, 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 look of glowing brass.
So I looked, and behold, there was a likeness with the appearance of a man. From the appearance of his hips downward there was fire. And from his hips upward there was the appearance of something shining, like glowing metal.
3 And he stretched forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entry of the inner gate that looketh toward the north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
Then he reached out the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and in visions from God, he brought me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner northern gate, where the idol that provokes great jealousy was standing.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the valley.
Then behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision I had seen on the plain.
5 And he said unto me, Son of man, lift up now thine eyes toward the north. And I lifted up mine eyes toward the north, and behold, northward of the gate of the altar, this image of jealousy in the entry.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and to the north of the gate leading to the altar, there in the entrance, was the idol of jealousy.
6 And he said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, to cause [me] to go far off from my sanctuary? And yet again thou shalt see great abominations.
So he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? These are great abominations that the house of Israel is doing here to make me go far from my own sanctuary. But you will turn and see even greater abominations.”
7 And he brought me to the entry of the court, and I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall.
Then he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I looked, and there was a hole in the wall.
8 And he said unto me, Son of man, dig now through the wall; and I digged through the wall, and behold, a door.
He said to me, “Son of man, dig into this wall.” So I dug into the wall, and there was a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Then he said to me, “Go and see the wicked abominations that they are doing here.”
10 And I went in and looked, and behold, every form of creeping thing and abominable beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
So I went in and looked, and behold! There was every form of creeping thing and detestable beast! Every idol of the house of Israel was carved into the wall all around.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
Seventy elders of the house of Israel were there, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing in their midst. They were standing in front of the images, and each man had his censer in his hand so that the smell of the cloud of incense went up.
12 And he said unto me, Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.
He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark? Each one does this in the hidden chamber of his idol, for they say, 'Yahweh does not see us! Yahweh has forsaken the land.'”
13 And he said unto me, Yet again thou shalt see great abominations which they do.
Then he said to me, “Turn again and see the other great abominations that they are doing.”
14 And he brought me to the entry of the gate of Jehovah's house that was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Next he brought me to the entrance of the gate of Yahweh's house that was on the north side, and behold! The women were sitting there mourning for Tammuz.
15 And he said unto me, Seest thou, son of man? Thou shalt yet again see greater abominations than these.
So he said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Turn again and see even greater abominations than these.”
16 And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house, and behold, at the entry of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
He brought me into the inner courtyard of Yahweh's house, and behold! at the entrance of the temple of Yahweh between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun.
17 And he said unto me, Seest thou, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here, that they yet fill the land with violence, and keep provoking me afresh to anger? And behold, they put the branch to their nose.
He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a little thing for the house of Judah to do these abominations that they are doing here? For they have filled the land with violence and they have turned again to provoke me to anger, putting the branch to their noses.
18 And I also will deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.
So I will also act among them; my eye will not have compassion, and I will not spare them. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”