Ezequiel 8

¹ And it came to pass in theOf the captivity of Jeconiah.sixth year, in theWhich contained part of August and part of September.sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, [as] I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

² Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance ofAs in (Eze_1:27).fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

³ And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in theMeaning that he was thus carried in spirit, and not in body.visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the innerWhich was the porch or the court where the people assembled.gate that looketh toward the north; where [was] the seat of the image ofSo called, because it provoked God's indignation, which was the idol of Baal.jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

⁴ And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel [was] there, according to the vision that I sawRead (Eze_3:22).in the plain.

⁵ Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up thy eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of theThat is, in the court where the people had made an altar to Baal.altar this image of jealousy in the entrance.

⁶ He said furthermore to me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? [even] the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should withdraw fromFor God will not be where the idols are.my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations.

⁷ And he caused me to enter at the gate of the court: and when I looked, beholde, an hole was in the wall.

⁸ Then said he vnto me, Sonne of man, digge nowe in the wall; when I had digged in the wall, beholde, there was a doore.

⁹ And he said vnto mee, Go in, and beholde the wicked abominations that they doe here.

¹⁰ So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping animals, andWhich were forbidden in the law, (Lev_11:4).abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around upon the wall.

¹¹ And there stood before them seventyThus they who would have kept all the rest in the fear and true service of God were the ringleaders of all abomination, and by their example pulled others from God.men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; andIt was in such abundance.a thick cloud of incense went up.

¹² Then said he to me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of IsraelFor besides their common idolatry they had particular service, which they had in secret chambers.do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

¹³ Againe he saide also vnto me, Turne thee againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they doe.

¹⁴ Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which [was] toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping forThe Jews write, that this was a prophet of the idols, who after his death was once a year mourned for in the night.Tammuz.

¹⁵ Then saide hee vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Turne thee againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations then these.

¹⁶ And he caused me to enter into the inner court of the Lordes house, and beholde, at the doore of the Temple of the Lord, betweene the porche and the altar were about fiue and twentie men with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord, and their faces towarde the East, and they worshipped the sunne, towarde the East.

¹⁷ Then he said to me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put theDeclaring that the censings and service of the idolaters are but infections and villany before God.branch to their nose.

¹⁸ Therefore will I also execute my wrath: mine eye shall not spare them, neither will I haue pitie, and though they crie in mine eares with a loude voyce, yet will I not heare them.