Ezekiel’s Vision of Jerusalem

8 It was the sixth year [^Csince king Jehoiachin’s exile (1:2)], on the fifth day of the sixth month [^CSeptember 17, 592 bc; this vision is the subject of chapters 8–11]. I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah in front of me. There ·I felt the power of the Lord God [^Lthe hand of the Lord God came upon me]. ² I looked and saw something that looked like a ·human [man]. From the waist down it looked like fire, and from the waist up it looked like bright glowing ·metal [or amber]. ³ ·It [or He] stretched out the shape of a hand and caught me by the hair on my head. ·The Spirit [or A spirit; or The wind] lifted me up between the earth and ·the sky [heaven]. He took me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple. In the courtyard was the ·idol that caused God to be jealous [^Limage of jealousy; 2 Kin. 21:7; 2 Chr. 33:7, 15]. ⁴ I saw the glory of the God of Israel [^Chis manifest presence] there, as I had seen ·on the plain [in the valley].

⁵ Then he said to me, “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], now look toward the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar was the ·idol that caused God to be jealous [image of jealousy].

⁶ He said to me, “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], do you see what they are doing? Do you see how many ·hateful [detestable; abominable] things the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel are doing here that drive me far away from my ·Temple [sanctuary]? But you will see things more ·hateful [detestable; abominable] than these.”

⁷ Then he brought me to the entry of the courtyard. When I looked, I saw a hole in the wall. ⁸ He said to me, “·Human [^TSon of man], dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and saw an ·entrance [doorway].

⁹ Then he said to me, “Go in and see the ·hateful [detestable; abominable], ·evil [wicked] things they are doing here.” ¹⁰ So I entered and looked, and ·I saw [^Llook; ^Tbehold] every kind of crawling thing [Lev. 11:20] and hateful beast [^Cunclean animal, ritually] and all the idols of the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel, ·carved [engraved] on the wall all around [^Csuch images were idolatrous; Deut. 4:16–18; Rom. 1:23]. ¹¹ Standing in front of these carvings and idols were seventy of the elders of [^Lthe house of] Israel and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each man had his ·pan for burning incense [censer] in his hand, and a ·sweet-smelling [fragrant] cloud of incense was rising.

¹² Then he said to me, “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], have you seen what the elders of [^Lthe house of] Israel are doing in the dark? Have you seen each man in the ·room [chamber; shrine] of his own ·idol [carved image]? They say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us. The Lord has ·left [abandoned; forsaken] the land.’” ¹³ He also said to me, “You will see even more ·hateful [detestable; abominable] things that they are doing.”

¹⁴ Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, where I saw women sitting and crying for Tammuz [^Ca Babylonian god of fertility and rain, whose annual death marked the change of seasons]. ¹⁵ He said to me, “Do you see, ·human [^Tson of man; 2:1]? You will see things even more ·hateful [detestable; abominable] than these.”

¹⁶ Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the ·Temple [^Lhouse of the Lord]. There I saw about twenty-five men at the entrance to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, between the ·porch [portico] and the altar. With their backs turned to the Temple of the Lord, they faced east and were worshiping the sun in the east.

¹⁷ He said to me, “Do you see, ·human [^Tson of man; 2:1]? Is it ·unimportant [a trivial thing] that the ·people [^Lhouse] of Judah are doing the ·hateful [detestable; abominable] things they have done here? They have filled the land with violence and ·made me continually angry [provoked me to still greater anger]. ·Look [^TBehold], they are ·insulting me every way they can [^Lputting the branch to their nose; ^Cperhaps part of the worship of the sun god]. ¹⁸ So I will act ·in anger [with wrath]. I will have no pity, nor will I ·show mercy [spare them]. Even if they shout in my ears, I won’t listen to them.”