1 And in the sixt yere, in the sixt moneth, and in the fift day of the moneth, as I sate in mine house, and the Elders of Iudah sate before me, the hand of the Lord God fell there vpon me. 2 Then I beheld, and lo, there was a likenesse, as the appearance of fire, to looke to, from his loynes downeward, and from his loynes vpward, as the appearance of brightnes, and like vnto amber. 3 And he stretched out the likenes of an had, and tooke me by an hearie locke of mine head, and the Spirit lift me vp betweene the earth, and the heauen, and brought mee by a Diuine vision to Ierusalem, into the entry of ye inner gate that lieth toward the North, where remained the idole of indignation, which prouoked indignation. 4 And beholde, the glorie of the God of Israel was there according to the vision, that I saw in the fielde. 5 Then saide he vnto mee, Sonne of man, lift vp thine eyes nowe towarde the North. So I lift vp mine eyes towarde the North, and beholde, Northward, at the gate of the altar, this idole of indignation was in the entrie. 6 He said furthermore vnto me, Sonne of man, seest thou not what they doe? euen the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here to cause me to depart from my Sanctuarie? but yet turne thee and thou shalt see greater abominations. 7 And he caused me to enter at the gate of the court: and when I looked, beholde, an hole was in the wall. 8 Then said he vnto me, Sonne of man, digge nowe in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, beholde, there was a doore. 9 And he said vnto mee, Go in, and beholde the wicked abominations that they doe here. 10 So I went in, and sawe, and beholde, there was euery similitude of creeping thinges and abominable beasts and all the idoles of the house of Israel painted vpon the wall round about. 11 And there stoode before them seuentie men of the Ancients of the house of Israel, and in the middes of them stoode Iaazaniah, ye sonne of Shaphan, with euerie man his censour in his hand, and the vapour of the incense went vp like a cloude. 12 Then saide hee vnto mee, Sonne of man, hast thou seene what the Ancients of the house of Israel do in the darke, euery one in the chamber of his imagerie? for they say, The Lord seeth vs not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth. 13 Againe he saide also vnto me, Turne thee againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they doe. 14 And he caused me to enter into the entrie of the gate of the Lords house, which was toward the North: and beholde there sate women mourning for Tammuz. 15 Then saide hee vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Turne thee againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations then these. 16 And he caused me to enter into the inner court of the Lordes house, and beholde, at the doore of the Temple of the Lord, betweene the porche and the altar were about fiue and twentie men with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord, and their faces towarde the East, and they worshipped the sunne, towarde the East. 17 The he said vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Is it a small thing to the house of Iudah to commit these abominations which they do here? for they haue filled the land with crueltie, and haue returned to prouoke mee: and loe, they haue cast out stinke before their noses. 18 Therefore will I also execute my wrath: mine eye shall not spare them, neither will I haue pitie, and though they crie in mine eares with a loude voyce, yet will I not heare them.
EZEKIEL'S SECOND VISION OF GOD (8.1—10.22)
Idolatry in Jerusalem
1 On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign Lord came on me. 2 I looked up and saw a vision of a fiery human form. From the waist down his body looked like fire, and from the waist up he was shining like polished bronze. 3 He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair. Then in this vision God's spirit lifted me high in the air and took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner entrance of the north gate of the Temple, where there was an idol that was an outrage to God.
4 There I saw the dazzling light that shows the presence of Israel's God, just as I had seen it when I was by the Chebar River. 5 God said to me, “Mortal man, look toward the north.” I looked, and there near the altar by the entrance of the gateway I saw the idol that was an outrage to God.
6 God said to me, “Mortal man, do you see what is happening? Look at the disgusting things the people of Israel are doing here, driving me farther and farther away from my holy place. You will see even more disgraceful things than this.”
7 He took me to the entrance of the outer courtyard and showed me a hole in the wall. 8 He said, “Mortal man, break through the wall here.” I broke through it and found a door. 9 He told me, “Go in and look at the evil, disgusting things they are doing there.” 10 So I went in and looked. The walls were covered with drawings of snakes and other unclean animals, and of the other things which the Israelites were worshiping. 11 Seventy Israelite leaders were there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each one was holding an incense burner, and smoke was rising from the incense. 12 God asked me, “Mortal man, do you see what the Israelite leaders are doing in secret? They are all worshiping in a room full of images. Their excuse is: ‘The Lord doesn't see us! He has abandoned the country.’”
13 Then the Lord said to me, “You are going to see them do even more disgusting things than that.” 14 So he took me to the north gate of the Temple and showed me women weeping over the death of the god Tammuz.
15 He asked, “Mortal man, do you see that? You will see even more disgusting things.” 16 So he took me to the inner courtyard of the Temple. There near the entrance of the sanctuary, between the altar and the porch, were about twenty-five men. They had turned their backs to the sanctuary and were bowing low toward the east, worshiping the rising sun.
17 The Lord said to me, “Mortal man, do you see that? These people of Judah are not satisfied with merely doing all the disgusting things you have seen here and with spreading violence throughout the country. No, they must come and do them right here in the Temple and make me even more angry. Look how they insult me in the most offensive way possible! 18 They will feel all the force of my anger. I will not spare them or show them any mercy. They will shout prayers to me as loud as they can, but I will not listen to them.”