< Ezekiel 8 >
1 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 elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber.
3 And he put 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 heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh towards the north; where [was] the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel [was] there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up thy eyes now the way towards the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way towards the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6 He said furthermore to me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? [even] the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should withdraw from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said to me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping animals, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around upon the wall.
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.
12 Then said he to me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
13 He said also to me, Turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which [was] towards the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he to me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [were] about five and twenty men, with their backs towards the temple of the LORD, and their faces towards the east; and they worshiped the sun towards the east.
17 Then he said to me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, [yet] I will not hear them.
