Ezekiel 8
New American Standard Bible
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.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 8:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 8:2 As in LXX; MT fire
- Ezekiel 8:2 Heb uncertain; Gr indicates a gold and silver alloy
- Ezekiel 8:3 Lit facing north
- Ezekiel 8:14 I.e., a Babylonian god
- Ezekiel 8:16 I.e., worshiping
- Ezekiel 8:17 Possibly an obscene gesture toward God
Ezekiel 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Abominations in the Temple
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.(A) 2 I looked, and there was a figure that looked like a man;[a] below what appeared to be its loins the figure was fire, and above the loins it was like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming amber.(B) 3 It stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, to the seat of the image of jealousy that provokes to jealousy.(C) 4 And the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I had seen in the valley.(D)
5 Then God[b] said to me, “O mortal, lift up your eyes now in the direction of the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy.(E) 6 He said to me, “Mortal, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? Yet you will see still greater abominations.”(F)
7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court; I looked, and there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Mortal, dig through the wall,” and when I dug through the wall, there was an entrance. 9 He said to me, “Go in and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and looked; there, portrayed on the wall all around, were all kinds of creeping things and loathsome animals and all the idols of the house of Israel.(G) 11 Before them stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the fragrant cloud of incense was ascending.(H) 12 Then he said to me, “Mortal, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they are committing.”(I)
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord; women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.(J) 15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O mortal? You will see still greater abominations than these.”
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord; there, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, prostrating themselves to the sun toward the east.(K) 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O mortal? Is it not bad enough that the house of Judah commits the abominations done here? Must they fill the land with violence and provoke my anger still further? See, they are putting the branch to their nose!(L) 18 Therefore I will act in wrath; my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, and though they cry in my hearing with a loud voice, I will not listen to them.”(M)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.