Ezekiel 8:1–11:25
8 dIn the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, eas I sat in my house, with fthe elders of Judah sitting before me, gthe hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, ha form that had the appearance of a man.1 hBelow what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like igleaming metal.2 3 He jput out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up kbetween earth and heaven and lbrought me in mvisions of God to Jerusalem, nto the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, owhere was the seat of the pimage of jealousy, qwhich provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, rthe glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw sin the valley.
5 Then he said to me, t“Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of uthe altar gate, in the entrance, was this pimage of jealousy. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, vdo you see what they are doing, wthe great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, xto drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”
7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Son of man, ydig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9 And he said to me, “Go in, and see zthe vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and saw. And there, aengraved on the wall all around, was bevery form of ccreeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 And before them stood dseventy men of ethe elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of fShaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and gthe smoke of the 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 are doing hin the dark, each iin his room of pictures? For they say, j‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 He said also to me, k“You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”
14 Then he brought me to lthe entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O tson of man? kYou will see still greater abominations than these.”
16 And he brought me into mthe inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, nbetween the oporch and pthe altar, were about twenty-five men, qwith their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping rthe sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O sson of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit tthe abominations that they commit here, that uthey should fill the land with violence and vprovoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their3 nose. 18 Therefore wI will act in wrath. xMy eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. yAnd though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
9 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, zeach with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of athe upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was ba man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside cthe bronze altar.
3 Now dthe glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to ethe threshold of the house. And he called to bthe man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and fput a mark on the foreheads of the men who gsigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to hthe others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. iYour eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 jKill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but ktouch no one on whom is the mark. And lbegin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. 7 Then he said to them, m“Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. 8 And while they were striking, and I was left alone, nI fell upon my face, and cried, o“Ah, Lord God! pWill you destroy all the remnant of Israel qin the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 Then he said to me, r“The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. sThe land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For tthey say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ 10 As for me, umy eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; vI will bring their deeds upon their heads.”
11 And behold, wthe man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”
The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple
10 Then I looked, and behold, xon the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ylike a sapphire,1 in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to zthe man clothed in linen, “Go in among athe whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with bburning coals from between the cherubim, and cscatter them over the city.”
And he went in dbefore my eyes. 3 Now the cherubim were standing eon the south side of the house, when the man went in, and fa cloud filled gthe inner court. 4 And hthe glory of the Lord iwent up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house fwas filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with jthe brightness of the glory of the Lord. 5 And kthe sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, klike the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6 And when he commanded lthe man clothed in linen, m“Take fire from between nthe whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have othe form of a human hand under their wings.
9 pAnd I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and qthe appearance of the wheels was rlike sparkling sberyl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 tWhen they went, they went in any of their four directions2 uwithout turning as they went, vbut in whatever direction the front wheel3 faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 wAnd their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,4 and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing n“the whirling wheels.” 14 xAnd every one had four faces: ythe first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was za human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 aAnd the cherubim mounted up. These were bthe living creatures that I saw by cthe Chebar canal. 16 dAnd when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And dwhen the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 eWhen they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures5 was in them.
18 fThen gthe glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 hAnd the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ibefore my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the jeast gate of the house of the Lord, and kthe glory of the God of Israel was over them.
20 lThese were the living creatures that I saw munderneath the God of Israel by nthe Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 oEach had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings pthe likeness of human hands. 22 qAnd as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. rEach one of them went straight forward.
11 sThe Spirit lifted me up and brought me to tthe east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were utwenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah vthe son of Azzur, and wPelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 And he said to me, x“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 ywho say, z‘The time is not near1 to build houses. aThis city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”
5 And bthe Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. cFor I know the things that come into your mind. 6 dYou have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: eYour slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, athey are the meat, and athis city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. 8 fYou have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. 9 And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and ggive you into the hands of foreigners, and hexecute judgments upon you. 10 iYou shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, jand you shall know that I am the Lord. 11 kThis city shall not be