Ezekiel 8
1And
it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders
of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
2Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even
downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and
the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of
the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision
that I saw in the plain.
5Then said he unto
me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold
northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that
the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see
greater abominations.
7And he brought me to
the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a
door.
9And he said unto me, Go in, and behold
the wicked abominations that they do here.
10So
I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel,
pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
11And
there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son
of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house
of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken
the earth.
13He said also unto me, Turn thee
yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold,
there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15Then
said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16And he brought me into the inner court of
the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and
twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward
the east.
17Then he said unto me, Hast thou
seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here?
for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their
nose.
18Therefore will I also deal in fury:
mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear
them.