Top of Page
Page Style
the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God came upon me there. 2 I looked, and there was a form that had the appearance of a man. From what appeared to be His waist and downward He was like fire, and from His waist and upward the appearance of brightness, like gleaming amber. 3 He stretched out what appeared to be 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 the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the idol that provokes jealousy stood. 4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I looked to the north, and in the entrance north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy. 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the terrible abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, things that drive Me far from My sanctuary? But turn yet again, and you will see still even greater abominations.”
7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and found there was a doorway there.
9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the vile abominations that they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and there I saw portrayed all over on the walls all kinds of crawling things, detestable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising up.
12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say: ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land’.” 13 Again He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see even worse abominations that they are committing.”
14 Then 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. 15 And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.” 16 So He brought me to the inner court of the House of the Lord, and there I saw at the entrance of the Lord’s temple, 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. There they were bowing down, worshipping the sun toward the east.
17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practising here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look at them even putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. Though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”