Ezekiel 8
Legacy Standard Bible
Visions of Abominations in the Sanctuary
8 Now it happened 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 Lord Yahweh fell on me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of [a]one on fire; from His loins and downward there was the (A)appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like (B)the gleam of [b]glowing metal. 3 He sent forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock 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 [c]north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the figure 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)figure of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, are you seeing what they are doing, the great (H)abominations which the house of Israel is doing 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 court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now (I)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations that they are doing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 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 rising. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘(M)Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has (N)forsaken the land.’” 13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are doing.”
14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the (O)gate of the house of Yahweh which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 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 court of the house of Yahweh. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their (P)backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east; and (Q)they were [d]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to do the abominations which they have done here, that they have (R)filled the land with violence and (S)provoked Me to anger still more? For behold, they are sending forth the twig to their nose. 18 Therefore, I also will do this in wrath: My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare; and (T)they will cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 8:2 Lit fire; Gr a man
- Ezekiel 8:2 Or electrum
- Ezekiel 8:3 Lit facing north
- Ezekiel 8:16 Or worshiping
Ezekiel 8
Expanded Bible
Ezekiel’s Vision of Jerusalem
8 It was the sixth year [C since king Jehoiachin’s exile (1:2)], on the fifth day of the sixth month [C September 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 [L the 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 [L image of jealousy; 2 Kin. 21:7; 2 Chr. 33:7, 15]. 4 I saw the glory of the God of Israel [C his manifest presence] there, as I had seen ·on the plain [in the valley].
5 Then he said to me, “·Human [T Son 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 [T Son of man; 2:1], do you see what they are doing? Do you see how many ·hateful [detestable; abominable] things the ·people [L house] 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 [T Son 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 [L look; T behold] every kind of crawling thing [Lev. 11:20] and hateful beast [C unclean animal, ritually] and all the idols of the ·people [L house] of Israel, ·carved [engraved] on the wall all around [C such 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 [L the 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 [T Son of man; 2:1], have you seen what the elders of [L the 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 [L house] of the Lord, where I saw women sitting and crying for Tammuz [C a Babylonian god of fertility and rain, whose annual death marked the change of seasons]. 15 He said to me, “Do you see, ·human [T son 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 [L house of the Lord]. There I saw about twenty-five men at the entrance to the ·Temple [L house] 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 [T son of man; 2:1]? Is it ·unimportant [a trivial thing] that the ·people [L house] 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 [T Behold], they are ·insulting me every way they can [L putting the branch to their nose; C perhaps 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.”
Ezekiel 8
Tree of Life Version
Abomination in the Temple
8 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house. The elders of Judah were sitting before me. There the hand of Adonai fell on me. 2 I looked, and behold, a form resembling fire—from the appearance of his waist downward, fire; and from his loins and waist upward, something like the appearance of brightness, as glowing metal. 3 Something like the form of a hand stretched out, and took me by the hair of my head. The Ruach lifted me up between the earth and the heaven. He brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court facing north—where the idol that provokes furious jealousy was.
4 Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. 5 He said to me: “Son of man, lift your eyes toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north. Behold, north of the gate of the altar, was this image provoking jealousy in the entrance.
6 He said to me: “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, that drives me far off from My own Sanctuary? But you will see even greater abominations.”
7 He brought me to the door of the court. When I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 Then He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” When I had dug through the wall, there was a door. 9 He said to me: “Go and see the wicked abominations that they do here.” 10 So I went in and saw, behold, every detestable image of creeping things and beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel, engraved on the surrounding walls. 11 Standing there before them were 70 men of the elders of the house of Israel, Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst, each man with his censer in his hand. A thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then He said to me: “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chamber of his carved idol? For they say, ‘Adonai does not see us. Adonai has forsaken the land.’”
13 He said further to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 He brought me to the door of the gate of Adonai’s House, which was toward the north. Behold, the women sat there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see even greater abominations than these.”
16 So He brought me into the inner court of Adonai’s House. Behold, at the door of the Temple of Adonai, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men, with their backs toward the Temple of Adonai and their faces toward the east—and they were bowing in worship eastward toward the sun.
17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it too light a thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations they practice here, that they must also fill the land with violence and provoke Me still more? Look, they are putting the twig to My nose! 18 Therefore I will indeed act in fury. My eye will not spare you nor will I have pity. Though they cry into My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
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Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.