Ezekiel 8

1 And it comes to pass, in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], on the fifth of the month, I am sitting in my house, and [the] elderly of Judah are sitting before me, and there a hand of Lord YHWH falls on me,

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.

2 and I look, 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 color of electrum.

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.

3 And He puts forth a form of a hand, and takes me by a lock of my head, and [the] Spirit lifts me up between the earth and the heavens, and brings me to Jerusalem in visions of God, to the opening of the inner gate that is facing the north, where the seat of the figure of jealousy [is] that is making jealous,

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.

4 and behold, there the glory of the God of Israel [is] as the appearance that I saw in the valley.

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

5 And He says to me, “Son of man, now lift up your eyes [toward] the way of the north.” And I lift up my eyes [toward] the way of the north, and behold, on the north of the gate of the altar [is] this figure of jealousy, at the entrance.

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.

6 And He says to me, “Son of man, are you seeing what they are doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel is doing here, to keep far off from My sanctuary; and turn again, [and] see great abominations.”

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.”

7 And He brings me to an opening of the court, and I look, and behold, a hole in the wall;

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

8 and He says to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall”; and I dig through the wall, and behold, an opening.

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

9 And He says to me, “Go in, and see the evil abominations that they are doing here.”

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

10 And I go in, and look, and behold, every form of creeping thing, and detestable beast—and all the idols of the house of Israel—carved on the wall, all around,

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.

11 and seventy men from [the] elderly of the house of Israel—and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst—are standing before them, and each [with] his censer in his hand, and [the] abundance of [the] cloud of the incense is going up.

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.

12 And He says to me, “Have you seen, son of man, that which elderly of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each in [the] inner chambers of his imagery, for they are saying, YHWH is not seeing us, YHWH has forsaken the land?”

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.’”

13 And He says to me, “Turn again, [and] see [the] great abominations that they are doing.”

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

14 And He brings me to the opening of the gate of the house of YHWH that [is] at the north, and behold, there the women are sitting, weeping for Tammuz.

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.

15 And He says to me, “Have you seen, son of man? Turn again, [and] see greater abominations than these.”

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.”

16 And He brings me into the inner court of the house of YHWH, and behold, at the opening of the temple of YHWH, between the porch and the altar, about twenty-five men, their backs toward the temple of YHWH, and their faces eastward, and they are bowing themselves eastward to the sun.

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.

17 And He says to me, “Have you seen, son of man? Has it been a light thing to the house of Judah to do the abomination that they have done here, that they have filled the land with violence, and turn back to provoke Me to anger? And behold, they are putting forth the branch to their nose!

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.

18 And I also deal in fury, My eye does not pity, nor do I spare, and they have cried [with] a loud voice in My ears and I do not hear them.”

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.”