Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem

8 Now it came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord ^[a]God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and behold, something like the appearance of ^[b]a man; from His waist and downward there was the ^(A)appearance of fire, and from His waist and upward like the appearance of a glow, like ^(B)gleaming ^[c]metal. ³ And He extended the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the ^(C)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the ^[d]north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which ^(D)provokes to jealousy, was located. ⁴ And behold, the ^(E)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

⁵ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^(F)raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this ^(G)idol of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶ And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(H)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations!”

⁷ Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. ⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, now ^(I)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of crawling things and animals and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. ¹¹ And standing in front of them were ^(J)seventy ^(K)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ^(L)censer in his hand; and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was rising. ¹² Then He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his carved images? For they say, ‘^(M)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has ^(N)abandoned the land.’” ¹³ And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing!”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the entrance of the ^(O)gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for ^[e]Tammuz. ¹⁵ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these!”

¹⁶ Then He brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their ^(P)backs to the temple of the Lord while their faces were toward the east; and ^(Q)they were ^[f]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. ¹⁷ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a trivial thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have ^(R)filled the land with violence and ^(S)provoked Me to anger repeatedly? Yet behold, they are ^[g]putting the twig to their nose! ¹⁸ Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and ^(T)though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

The Vision of Slaughter

9 Then He cried out in my ^[h]presence with a loud ^(U)voice, saying, “Come forward, you ^[i]executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.” ² And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his smashing weapon in his hand; and among them was ^(V)one man clothed in linen with a scribe’s kit at his waist. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Then the ^(W)glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the ^[j]temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose waist was the scribe’s kit. ⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a ^(X)mark on the foreheads of the people who ^(Y)groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” ⁵ But to the others He said in my ^[k]presence, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. ^6 [l]Utterly ^(Z)kill old men, young men, female virgins, little children, and women, but do not ^(AA)touch any person on whom is the mark; and you shall ^(AB)start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the ^[m]elders who were before the ^[n]temple. ⁷ He also said to them, “^(AC)Defile the ^[o]temple and fill the courtyards with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and struck and killed the people in the city. ⁸ And as they were striking the people and I alone was left, I ^(AD)fell on my face and cried out, ^[p]saying, “^(AE)Oh, Lord ^[q]God! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel ^[r]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

⁹ Then He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is ^(AF)filled with blood, and the city is ^(AG)full of perversion; for ^(AH)they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ¹⁰ But as for Me, ^(AI)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but ^(AJ)I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”

¹¹ Then behold, the man clothed in linen, at whose waist was the scribe’s kit, ^[s]reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, in the ^[t](AK)expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a ^(AL)sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a ^(AM)throne, appeared above them. ² And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the ^(AN)whirling wheels under the ^[u]cherubim and fill your hands with ^(AO)coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

³ Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the ^[v]temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ^(AP)inner courtyard. ⁴ Then the ^(AQ)glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the ^(AR)temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the ^(AS)brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer courtyard, like the ^(AT)voice of ^[w]God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶ And it came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ Then the cherub reached out with his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some coals and put them into the hands of the one clothed in linen; and he took them and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have something like a human hand under their wings.

⁹ Then I looked, and behold, ^(AU)four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a ^[x](AV)Tarshish stone. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they went ^(AW)in any of their four ^[y]directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which ^[z]they faced, without turning as they went. ¹² And their ^(AX)whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the ^(AY)wheels were ^[aa]covered with eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. ¹³ The wheels were called, ^[ab]as I heard, the ^[ac]whirling wheels. ¹⁴ And ^(AZ)each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a human, the third, the face of a lion, and the fourth, the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ Then the cherubim rose up. They are the ^(BA)living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶ Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would move beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels themselves would not turn away from beside them. ¹⁷ When ^[ad]the cherubim ^(BB)stood still, ^[ae]the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, ^[af]the wheels would rise with them, because the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood ^(BC)over the cherubim. ¹⁹ When ^(BD)the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the ground in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel ^[ag]hovered over them.

²⁰ These are the ^(BE)living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by ^(BF)the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. ^21 (BG)Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. ²² As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.

The Changeless Christ

13 Let ^(A)love of the brothers and sisters continue. ² Do not neglect ^(B)hospitality to strangers, for by this some have ^(C)entertained angels without knowing it. ^3 (D)Remember ^(E)the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are badly treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. ^4 (F)Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; ^(G)for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. ⁵ Make sure that your character is ^(H)free from the love of money, ^(I)being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “^(J)I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,” ⁶ so that we confidently say,

⁷ Remember ^(L)those who led you, who spoke ^(M)the word of God to you; and considering the ^[a]result of their way of life, ^(N)imitate their faith. ^8 (O)Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever. ^9 (P)Do not be misled by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to ^(Q)be strengthened by grace, not by ^(R)foods, ^(S)through which those who ^[b]were so occupied were not benefited. ¹⁰ We have an altar ^(T)from which those ^(U)who serve the ^[c]tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ For ^(V)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also suffered ^(W)outside the gate, ^(X)that He might sanctify the people ^(Y)through His own blood. ¹³ So then, let us go out to Him outside the camp, ^(Z)bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here ^(AA)we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking ^(AB)the city which is to come.

God-pleasing Sacrifices

^15 (AC)Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a ^(AD)sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(AE)the fruit of lips praising His name. ¹⁶ And do not neglect doing good and ^(AF)sharing, for ^(AG)with such sacrifices God is pleased.

^17 (AH)Obey your leaders and submit to them—for ^(AI)they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not ^[d]groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.

^18 (AJ)Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a ^(AK)good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. ¹⁹ And I urge you all the more to do this, ^(AL)so that I may be restored to you more quickly.

Benediction

²⁰ Now may ^(AM)the God of peace, who ^(AN)brought up from the dead the ^(AO)great Shepherd of the sheep ^[e]through ^(AP)the blood of the ^(AQ)eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord, ^21 (AR)equip you in every good thing to do His will, ^(AS)working in us that ^(AT)which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, ^(AU)to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² But ^(AV)I urge you, ^(AW)brothers and sisters, ^[f]listen patiently to ^[g]this ^(AX)word of exhortation, for ^(AY)I have written to you briefly. ²³ Know that ^(AZ)our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. ²⁴ Greet ^(BA)all of your leaders and all the ^[h](BB)saints. Those from ^(BC)Italy greet you.

^25 (BD)Grace be with you all.