Ezekiel 8
English Standard Version
Abominations in the Temple
8 (A)In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, (B)as I sat in my house, with (C)the elders of Judah sitting before me, (D)the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, (E)a form that had the appearance of a man.[a] (F)Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like (G)gleaming metal.[b] 3 He (H)put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up (I)between earth and heaven and (J)brought me in (K)visions of God to Jerusalem, (L)to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, (M)where was the seat of the (N)image of jealousy, (O)which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, (P)the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw (Q)in the valley.
5 Then he said to me, (R)“Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of (S)the altar gate, in the entrance, was this (T)image of jealousy. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, (U)do you see what they are doing, (V)the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, (W)to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”
7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Son of man, (X)dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9 And he said to me, “Go in, and see (Y)the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and saw. And there, (Z)engraved on the wall all around, was (AA)every form of (AB)creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 And before them stood (AC)seventy men of (AD)the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of (AE)Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and (AF)the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing (AG)in the dark, each (AH)in his room of pictures? For they say, (AI)‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 He said also to me, (AJ)“You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”
14 Then he brought me to (AK)the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O (AL)son of man? (AM)You will see still greater abominations than these.”
16 And he brought me into (AN)the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, (AO)between the (AP)porch and (AQ)the altar, were about twenty-five men, (AR)with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping (AS)the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O (AT)son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit (AU)the abominations that they commit here, that (AV)they should fill the land with violence and (AW)provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their[c] nose. 18 Therefore (AX)I will act in wrath. (AY)My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. (AZ)And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 8:2 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew of fire
- Ezekiel 8:2 Or amber
- Ezekiel 8:17 Or my
Ezekiel 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Visionary Journey to Jerusalem
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me,(A) and there the hand of the Lord God came down on me.(B) 2 I looked, and there was a form that had the appearance of a man.[a] From what seemed to be His waist down was fire, and from His waist up was something that looked bright,(C) like the gleam of amber.(D) 3 He stretched out what appeared to be a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God(E) to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the offensive statue that provokes jealousy(F) was located. 4 I saw the glory of the God of Israel(G) there, like the vision I had seen in the plain.(H)
Pagan Practices in the Temple
5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” I looked to the north, and there was this offensive statue north of the altar gate, at the entrance. 6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing here, more detestable things that the house of Israel is committing,(I) so that I must depart from My sanctuary? You will see even more detestable things.”
7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked there was a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and there was a doorway. 9 He said to me, “Go in and see the terrible and detestable things they are committing here.” 10 I went in and looked, and there engraved all around the wall was every form of detestable thing, crawling creatures and beasts, as well as all the idols of the house of Israel.(J)
11 Seventy elders from the house of Israel were standing before them, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan(K) standing among them. Each had a firepan in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising up. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”(L) 13 Again He said to me, “You will see even more detestable things, which they are committing.”
14 So He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house, and I saw women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even more detestable things than these.”
16 So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house, and there were about 25 men at the entrance of the Lord’s temple, between the portico and the altar,(M) with their backs to the Lord’s temple and their faces turned to the east.(N) They were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.(O) 17 And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the detestable things they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence(P) and repeatedly provoke Me to anger,(Q) even putting the branch to their nose?[b][c] 18 Therefore I will respond with wrath.(R) I will not show pity or spare them.(S) Though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice,(T) I will not listen to them.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 8:2 LXX; MT, Vg read of fire
- Ezekiel 8:17 Ancient Jewish tradition reads My nose
- Ezekiel 8:17 Possibly a pagan ritual or a euphemism for offensive behavior
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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