Ezekiel 8

Abominations in the Temple

1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with *Ezek. 14:1; 20:1; 33:31the elders of Judah sitting before me, that *Ezek. 1:3; 3:22the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 *Ezek. 1:26, 27Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, *Ezek. 1:4, 27like the color of amber. 3 He *Dan. 5:5stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and *Ezek. 3:14; Acts 8:39the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and *Ezek. 11:1, 24; 40:2brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court,*Jer. 7:30; 32:34; Ezek. 5:11where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which *Ex. 20:4; Deut. 32:16, 21provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the *Ezek. 3:12; 9:3glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I *Ezek. 1:28; 3:22, 23saw in the plain.

5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north." So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.

6 Furthermore He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great *2 Kin. 23:4, 5; Ezek. 5:11; 8:9, 17abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations." 7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then He said to me, "Son of man, dig into the wall"; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.

9 And He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there." 10 So I went in and saw, and there—every *Ex. 20:4; Deut. 4:16–18sort of *Rom. 1:23creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11 And there stood before them *Num. 11:16, 25; Luke 10:1seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, *Ps. 14:1; Is. 29:15; Ezek. 9:9‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ "

13 And He said to me, "Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing." 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these." 16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, *Joel 2:17between the porch and the altar, *Ezek. 11:1were about twenty-five men *2 Chr. 29:6; Jer. 2:27; 32:33; Ezek. 23:39with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping *Deut. 4:19; 2 Kin. 23:5, 11; Job 31:26; Jer. 44:17the sun toward the east.

17 And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have *Ezek. 9:9; Amos 3:10; Mic. 2:2filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. 18 *Ezek. 5:13; 16:42; 24:13Therefore I also will act in fury. My *Ezek. 5:11; 7:4, 9; 9:5, 10eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they *Prov. 1:28; Is. 1:15; Jer. 11:11; 14:12; Mic. 3:4; Zech. 7:13cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."