Ezekiel 8
King James Version
8 And 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.
2 Then 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.
3 And 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.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then 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.
6 He 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.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10 So 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.
11 And 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.
12 Then 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.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then 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.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And 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.
17 Then 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.
18 Therefore 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.
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Ezekiel 8
Easy-to-Read Version
Sinful Things Done at the Temple
8 One day I, Ezekiel, was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting there in front of me. This was on the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of exile.[a] Suddenly, the power of the Lord God came on me. 2 I saw something that looked like fire, like a man’s body. From the waist down, he was like fire. From the waist up, he was bright and shining like hot metal[b] in a fire. 3 Then I saw something that looked like an arm. The arm reached out and grabbed me by the hair on my head. Then the Spirit[c] lifted me into the air, and in a vision from God he took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner gate—the gate that is on the north side. The statue that makes God jealous is by that gate. 4 But the Glory of the God of Israel was there. The Glory looked just like the vision I saw in the valley by the Kebar Canal.
5 God spoke to me. He said, “Son of man,[d] look toward the north.” So I looked, and there, north of the Altar Gate by the entrance, was that statue that made God jealous.
6 Then God said to me, “Son of man, do you see what terrible things the people of Israel are doing? They built that thing here, right next to my Temple! And if you come with me, you will see even more terrible things!”
7 So I went to the entrance to the courtyard, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 God said to me, “Son of man, make a hole in the wall.” So I made a hole in the wall, and there I saw a door.
9 Then God said to me, “Go in and look at the terrible, evil things that the people are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked. I saw statues of all kinds of reptiles[e] and animals that you hate to think about. The statues were the filthy idols that the people of Israel worshiped. There were pictures of those animals carved all around on every wall!
11 Then I noticed that Jaazaniah son of Shaphan and the 70 elders of Israel were there with the people worshiping in that place. There they were, right at the front of the people, and each leader had his own incense dish in his hand. The smoke from the burning incense was rising into the air. 12 Then God said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of Israel do in the dark? Each man has a special room for his own false god. They say to themselves, ‘The Lord cannot see us. The Lord left this country.’” 13 Then he said to me, “If you come with me, you will see these men doing even more terrible things!”
14 Then God led me to the entrance to the Lord’s Temple. This gate was on the north side. I saw women sitting there and crying. They were sad about the false god Tammuz[f]!
15 God said to me, “Son of man, do you see these terrible things? Come with me and you will see things that are even worse than this!” 16 Then he led me to the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple area. There I saw 25 men bowing down and worshiping. They were at the entrance to the Lord’s Temple between the porch and the altar—but they were facing the wrong way. Their backs were to the Holy Place. They were bowing down to worship the sun!
17 Then God said, “Son of man, do you see this? The people of Judah think my Temple is so unimportant that they will do these terrible things here in my Temple! This country is filled with violence, and they constantly do things to make me angry. Look, they are wearing rings in their noses to honor the moon as a false god![g] 18 I will show them my anger! I will not show them any mercy or feel sorry for them! They will shout to me—but I refuse to listen to them!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 8:1 sixth year of exile This is the fall of 592 B.C.
- Ezekiel 8:2 hot metal The Hebrew word might mean “melted copper,” “an alloy of gold and silver,” or “amber.”
- Ezekiel 8:3 Spirit Or “wind.”
- Ezekiel 8:5 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person” or “a human being.” Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel. Also in verses 6, 7, 12, 15, 17.
- Ezekiel 8:10 reptiles The Hebrew word can mean “lizards,” “snakes,” and “all kinds of bugs and insects.”
- Ezekiel 8:14 Tammuz People thought this false god died and his wife Ishtar asked everyone to be sad and cry with her. Ishtar hoped this would bring him back to life. This ceremony was on the 2nd day of the fourth month (June/July). This month was named Tammuz because of this ceremony.
- Ezekiel 8:17 Look … god Or “Look at them putting that cut branch in their noses.”
Yechezkel 8
Orthodox Jewish Bible
8 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine bais, and the zekenim of Yehudah sat before me, that the yad Adonoi Hashem fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and hinei a demut (likeness) as of the appearance of eish; from the appearance of His waist and downward, eish; and from His waist and upward, as the appearance of zohar (brightness), as of gleaming amber.
3 And He put forth the form of a yad, and took me by a lock of mine rosh; and the Ruach lifted me up between Ha’Aretz and Shomayim, and brought me in mar’ot Elohim ([divinely granted] visions) to Yerushalayim, to the Petach Sha’ar Hapenimit (entrance of the inner gate), the one facing north; where was the moshav (seat) of the semel hakinah (statue of jealousy), which provoketh [Hashem’s] jealousy.
4 And, hinei, the Kavod Elohei Yisroel was there, according to the mareh (vision) that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said He unto me, Ben adam, lift up thine eynayim now the derech (toward) north. So I lifted up mine eynayim the derech (toward) north, and hinei northward at the Sha’ar HaMizbe’ach was this semel hakinah in the entrance.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Ben adam, seest thou what they do? Even the to’evot gedolot (great abominations) that Bais Yisroel committeth here, causing that I go far off from My Mikdash? But turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see to’evot gedolot (greater abominations).
7 And He brought me to the petach (entrance) of the khatzer (court); and when I looked, hinei, a hole in the kir (wall)!
8 Then said He unto me, Ben adam, dig now in the kir (wall); and when I had dug in the kir (wall), hinei, a petach (entrance).
9 And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the to’evot hara’ot (wicked abominations) that they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and, hinei, every form of remes (creeping things), and behemah sheketz (abominable beasts), and all the gillulim (idols) of the Bais Yisroel, portrayed upon the kir (wall) all around.
11 And there stood before them seventy ish of the zekenim of the Bais Yisroel, and in the midst of them stood Ya’azanyahu Ben Shaphan, with every ish his mikteret (censer, incense burner) in his yad; and a thick anan (cloud) of ketoret (incense) went up.
12 Then said He unto me, Ben adam, hast thou seen what the zekenim of Bais Yisroel do in the choshech (dark), every ish in the cheder (room) of his maskit (image)? For they say, Hashem seeth us not; Hashem hath forsaken ha’aretz.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see to’evot gedolot (greater abominations) that they do.
14 Then He brought me to the petach sha’ar Beis Hashem toward the north; and, hinei, there sat nashim weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said He unto me, Hast thou seen this, O ben adam? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see to’evot gedolot (greater abominations) than these.
16 And He brought me into the khatzer Beis Hashem hapenimit [i.e., the Court of the Kohanim], and, hinei, at the petach (entrance) of the Heikhal Hashem, between the Ulam and the Mizbe’ach, were about five and twenty ish, with their backs toward the Heikhal Hashem, and their faces toward the east; and they bowing down toward the east worshiping the sun.
17 Then He said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O ben adam? Is it a trivial thing to Bais Yehudah that they commit the to’evot (abominations) which they commit here? For they have filled ha’aretz with chamas, and yet have returned to provoke Me to anger; and, behold, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in chemah (fury); Mine eye shall not pity, neither will I spare; and though they cry in Mine oznayim with a kol gadol, yet will I not hear them.
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