False Gods in the House of God

8 On the fifth day of the sixth month in the sixth year, I was sitting in my house with the leaders of Judah sitting in front of me. And the hand of the Lord God came upon me there. ² Then I saw what looked like a man. From the center of His body and down to his feet, there was what looked like fire. And from the center of His body and up to his head, there was a bright light which looked like shining brass. ³ He put out what looked like a hand and caught me by the hair on my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me to see Jerusalem in a special way. He brought me to the north gate of the open space within its walls, and there was the seat of the false god which causes jealousy. ⁴ And I saw that the shining-greatness of the God of Israel was there, like what I had seen in the plain.

⁵ He said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and saw that to the north of the altar gate was this false god of jealousy in the doorway. ⁶ And the Spirit said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the people of Israel are doing? Do you see the hated sins that they are doing here to drive Me far from My holy place? But you will see even worse sins.”

⁷ Then He brought me to the gate of the open space, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall. ⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and saw a door. ⁹ He said to me, “Go in and see the hated sins that they are doing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and looked. And I saw that on the wall all around were pictures of every kind of thing which moves along the ground, and wild animals, and hated things, and all the false gods of the people of Israel. ¹¹ Standing in front of these pictures were seventy leaders of the people of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each man held a dish in his hand from which the smell of special perfume rose up in a cloud. ¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the leaders of the people of Israel are doing without anyone seeing them? They are worshiping in a room full of false gods. For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has left the land.’” ¹³ And He said to me, “You will see even worse sins which they are doing.”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the north gate of the Lord’s house. And I saw women sitting there crying for the false god Tammuz. ¹⁵ Then He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even worse sins than this.”

¹⁶ He brought me into the open space of the Lord’s house. And I saw about twenty-five men at the gate to the house of the Lord, between the porch and the altar. Their backs were toward the Lord’s house, and their faces were toward the east. They were bowing toward the east worshiping the sun. ¹⁷ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a little thing for the people of Judah to do the hated sins which they have done here? They have filled the land with sinful actions and have made Me angry again and again. See, they are doing what I hate. ¹⁸ So I will act in My anger. My eye will have no pity, and I will not let any go without punishment. Even if they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not listen to them.”