EZEKIEL CHAPTER 8
1
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth day
of the month, I was sitting in the house, and the elders of Judah were sitting
before me. And the hand of the Lord came upon me.
2
And I looked, and behold, the likeness of a man: from his loins and downwards there
was fire, and from his loins upwards there
was as the appearance of amber.
3
And He stretched forth the likeness of a hand, and took me by the crown of my
head. And the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and sky, and brought me to
Jerusalem in a vision of God, to the porch of the gate that looks to the north,
where was the pillar of the Purchaser.
4
And behold, the glory of the Lord God of Israel was there, according to the
vision which I saw in the plain.
5
And He said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes toward the north. So I lifted
up my eyes toward the north, and behold, I
looked from the north toward the eastern gate.
6
And He said to me, Son of man, have you seen what these people do? They commit great abominations here, so that I should
keep away from My sanctuary; and you shall see even greater iniquities.
7
And He brought me to the porch of the court.
8
And He said to me, Son of man, dig. So I dug, and behold, there was a door.
9
And He said to me, Go in, and behold the iniquities which they practice here.
10
So I went in and looked; and beheld vain abominations, and all the idols of the
house of Israel, portrayed upon them round about.
11
And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jechoniah the son of
Shaphan stood in their presence in the midst of them, and each one held his
censer in his hand; and the smoke of the incense went up.
12
And He said to me, You have seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of
Israel do, each one of them in their secret chamber; because they have said, The
Lord does not see; the Lord has forsaken the earth.
13
And He said to me, You shall see even greater iniquities which these do.
14
And He brought me in to the porch of the house of the Lord that looks to the
north; and behold there were women
sitting there lamenting for Tammuz.
15
And He said to me, Son of man, you have seen; but you shall yet see evil
practices even greater then these.
16
And He brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and at the
entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about
twenty men, with their back parts toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces
turned the opposite way; and these
were worshipping the sun.
17
And He said to me, Son of man, you have seen this. Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to practice the
iniquities which they have practiced here? For they have filled the land with
iniquity; and behold, these are as scorners.
18 Therefore will I deal with them in wrath: My eye shall not spare, nor will I have any mercy.