⁷ Next, he brought me to the entrance to the courtyard, and I looked and saw that 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 I saw a doorway. ⁹ He said to me, “Go in and observe the vile abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ When I entered, I looked around, and what did I see! Every form of creeping creature and every kind of detestable animal and all the filthy idols of the house of Israel were engraved on the wall, all around. ¹¹ Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel—with Ja’azaniah^[a] son of Shaphan standing in the middle—were standing in front of the images, each with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was ascending. ¹² He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each in his chamber for carved images? Listen! They are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.’”

¹³ Then he said to me, “You will see even greater abominations which they are practicing.”