Historical
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.”
The Vision of Yahweh’s Wrath
9 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud (U)voice saying, “Draw near, [e]O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men were coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was (V)a certain man clothed in linen with a [f]scribe’s case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then the (W)glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the house of Yahweh. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the [g]scribe’s case. 4 Yahweh said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a (X)mark on the foreheads of the men who (Y)sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being done in its midst.” 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6 (Z)Kill to utter destruction old men, chosen men, virgins, little ones, and women, but do not (AA)touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall (AB)start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the [h]elders who were before the house. 7 And He said to them, “(AC)Defile the house and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. 8 Now it happened as they were striking the people and I alone remained, that I (AD)fell on my face and cried out and said, “(AE)Alas, Lord Yahweh! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel [i]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is (AF)filled with bloodshed, and the city is (AG)full of perversion; for (AH)they say, ‘Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh does not see!’ 10 But as for Me, (AI)My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare, but (AJ)I will put their way upon their heads.”
11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the scribe’s [j]case responded with a word, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”
Vision of Yahweh’s Glory Departing the Temple
10 Then I looked, and behold, in the [k](AK)expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a (AL)sapphire stone, in appearance in the likeness of a (AM)throne, appeared above them. 2 And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the (AN)whirling wheels under the [l]cherubim and fill your hands with (AO)coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man entered, and the cloud filled the (AP)inner court. 4 Then the (AQ)glory of Yahweh rose up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the (AR)house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the (AS)brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the (AT)voice of [m]God Almighty when He speaks.
6 Now it happened that when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel. 7 Then the cherub sent forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some up, and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 And the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9 Then I looked, and behold, (AU)four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a [n](AV)Tarshish stone. 10 As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. 11 As they went, they went (AW)in any of their four [o]directions without turning as they went; but they went in the direction which [p]they faced, without turning as they went. 12 And their (AX)whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the (AY)wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. 13 The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. 14 And (AZ)each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 Then the cherubim rose up. They are the (BA)living creatures that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 Now as the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. 17 When [q]the cherubim (BB)stood still, [r]the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, [s]the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
18 Then the glory of Yahweh departed from the threshold of the house and stood (BC)over the cherubim. 19 When (BD)the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the house of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel [t]hovered over them.
20 These are the (BE)living creatures that I saw beneath the God of Israel by (BF)the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. 21 (BG)Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the likeness of human hands. 22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.
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