Yechezkel - Chapter 8

1. 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 Judea were sitting before me, and the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.

2. And I saw, and behold, a likeness like the appearance of fire; from the appearance of its loins and below-fire, and from its loins and above-like an appearance of splendor, like the color of chashmal.

3. And it stretched out a form of a hand, and it took me by a lock of my hair, and a wind picked me up between the earth and between the heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in the visions of God, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, whereat was the seat of the image of jealousy that provokes jealousy

4. And behold, there was the glory of the God of Israel, like the appearance that I saw in the plain.

5. Then He said to me, "Now lift your eyes northward," and I lifted my eyes northward, and behold from the north of the gate of the altar was this image of jealousy at the entrance.

6. And He said to me, "Do you see what they are doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel is doing here are to cause Me to distance Myself from upon My sanctuary; and you will yet return and see great abominations."

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

8. And He said to me, "Son of man, dig now in the wall," and I dug in the wall, and behold, an entrance.

9. And He said to me, "Come and see the evil abominations that they are doing here."

10. And I came and saw, and behold, every form of creeping thing and animal of detestation and all the idols of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall around and around!

11. And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan was standing among them, standing before them, and each man with his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense was ascending.

12. And He said to me, "Have you seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each one in his paved chambers? For they say, 'The Lord does not see us; the Lord has left the earth.' "

13. And He said to me, "You will yet see again greater abominations that they are doing."

14. And He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of the Lord that is to the north, and behold there the women were sitting, making the Tammuz weep.

15. And He said to me, "Have you seen, son of man? You will yet see again greater abominations than these."

16. And He brought me to the inner court of the house of the Lord, and behold, at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord between the porch and the altar, about twenty- five men, their backs to the Temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were prostrating themselves eastward to the sun.

17. And He said to me, "Have you seen, son of man? Was it [too] trivial to the house of Judah to prevent them from performing the abominations that they have done here? For they have [already] filled the land with violence, and repeatedly provoked Me, and behold they send disgrace into their nose.

18. I too, shall act with fury; My eyes will not spare, neither will I have pity, and they will call into My ears with a loud voice, but I shall not listen to them."