The Preacher's Bible

In the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, the Lord Jehovah’s hand fell on me there. ²Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire—from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire, and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal. ³He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north, where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. ⁴Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

⁵Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

⁷He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

⁸Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall.” When I had dug in the wall, I saw a door.

⁹He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.”

¹⁰So I went in and looked, and saw every form of creeping things, abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. ¹¹Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood before them. In the middle of them Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood, every man with his censer in his hand; and the smell of the cloud of incense went up.

¹²Then 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 his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Jehovah doesn’t see us. Jehovah has forsaken the land.’” ¹³He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.”

¹⁴Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶He brought me into the inner court of Jehovah’s house; and I saw at the door of Jehovah’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward Jehovah’s temple and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.

¹⁷Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, 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 turned again to provoke me to anger. Behold, they put the branch to their nose. ¹⁸Therefore I will also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”