¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^(A) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^{(B) 20} Like the nations^(C) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.^(D)

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.^(A) He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^{(B) 29} One he set up in Bethel,^(C) and the other in Dan.^{(D) 30} And this thing became a sin;^(E) the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^[a]

⁹ And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls^(A) all kinds of crawling things and unclean^(B) animals and all the idols of Israel.^{(C) 11} In front of them stood seventy elders^(D) of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer^(E) in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense^(F) was rising.^(G)

¹² He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness,^(H) each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see^(I) us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” ¹³ Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”

¹⁴ Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz.^{(J) 15} He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”

¹⁶ He then brought me into the inner court^(K) of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar,^(L) were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun^(M) in the east.^(N)

¹⁸ Then the glory^(A) of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim.^{(B) 19} While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them.^(C) They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory^(D) of the God of Israel was above them.

¹² And you will know that I am the Lord,^(A) for you have not followed my decrees^(B) or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.^(C)”