Ezekiel 8

Modern

Literal

The Vision of Idolatry in the Temple

¹In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.

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

²Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire, and from His waist up He was as bright as the gleam of amber.^a

²And I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of His loins and downward was fire, and from His loins and above was like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.

³He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

³And He sent out the form of a hand, and He took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted up me between the earth and between the heavens, and brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God, to the door of the inner gate facing north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy which provokes to jealousy.

⁴And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.

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

⁵“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.”

So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate^a I saw this idol of jealousy.

⁵And He said to me: “Son of man, lift up now your eyes to the way northward.” And I lifted my eyes to the way northward, and behold! From the north of the Gate of the Altar was this image of jealousy in the entrance.

⁶“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing—to drive Me far from My sanctuary? Yet you will see even greater abominations.”

⁶And He said 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 Me far off from My sanctuary? And still you will turn and you will see greater abominations!”

⁷Then He brought me to the entrance to the court, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall.

⁷And He brought me to the door of the court; and I looked, and behold, one hole in the wall.

⁸“Son of man,” He told me, “dig through the wall.”

So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway.

⁸And He said to me: “Son of man, dig now into the wall.” And I dug into the wall, and behold, one opening.

⁹Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations they are committing here.”

⁹And He said to me: “Go in and see the evil abominations that they are doing here!”

¹⁰So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.

¹⁰And I went in and saw. And behold, every manner of creeping thing and detestable beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel were engraved on the walls all around,

¹¹Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

¹¹and seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel—and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst—standing before them; and each man his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of a cloud of incense was rising up.

¹²“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

¹²And He said to me: “Have you seen, Son of man, that which the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the inner chambers of his imagery? For they say, ‘YHWH is not seeing us, for YHWH has forsaken the land.’”

¹³Again, He told me, “You will see them committing even greater abominations.”

¹³And He said to me: “Again you will turn and will see greater abominations that they are doing!”

¹⁴Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.^a

¹⁴And He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of YHWH that was toward the north, and behold, there the women were sitting and weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Yet you will see even greater abominations than these.”

¹⁵And He said to me: “Have you seen, son of man? Again you will turn and will see greater abominations than these!”

¹⁶So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

¹⁶And He brought me into the inner court of the house of YHWH, and behold, at the opening of the temple of YHWH, between the porch and between the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of YHWH and with their faces toward the east; and they were worshiping eastward to the sun.

¹⁷“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!

¹⁷And He said to me: “Have you seen, son of man? Is it a light thing for the house of Judah to do the abominations that they do here, that they should fill the land with violence and turn back to provoke Me to anger? For behold, they are sending the branch to their nose!

¹⁸Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

¹⁸I also will act in fury. My eye will not show pity, and I will not have pity, and though they cry into My ears in a great voice, not at all will I hear them!”