Ezekiel 8–11
Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem
1 It came about 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 the Lord 1God fell on me there.
2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of 1a man; from His loins and downward there was the aappearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance bof 2glowing metal.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the aSpirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the 1north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which bprovokes to jealousy, was located.
4 And behold, the aglory 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, araise 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 bidol of jealousy at the entrance.
6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great aabominations which the house of Israel are committing 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 adig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance.
9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing 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 aseventy belders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ccenser 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 committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘aThe Lord does not see us; the Lord has bforsaken the land.’ ”
13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.”
14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the agate of the Lord’s house 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 Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their abacks to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and bthey were 1prostrating 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 commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have afilled the land with violence and bprovoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.
18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and athough they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
1 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud avoice saying, “Draw near, 1O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.”
2 Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was aa certain man clothed in linen with a 1writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then the aglory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the 1temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.
4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a amark on the foreheads of the men who bsigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed 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 “1Utterly aslay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not btouch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall cstart from My sanctuary.” So they started with the 2elders who were before the 3temple.
7 And He said to them, “aDefile the 1temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city.
8 As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I afell on my face and cried out 1saying, “bAlas, Lord 2God! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel 3by 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 afilled with blood and the city is bfull of perversion; for cthey say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’
10 “But as for Me, aMy eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but bI will bring their conduct upon their heads.”
11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the 1writing case 2reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”
Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple
1 Then I looked, and behold, in the 1aexpanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a bsapphire stone, in appearance resembling a cthrone, appeared above them.
2 And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the awhirling wheels under the 1cherubim and fill your hands with bcoals 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 1temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ainner court.
4 Then the aglory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the btemple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the cbrightness of the glory of the Lord.
5 Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the avoice of 1God Almighty when He speaks.
6 It came about 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 stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9 Then I looked, and behold, afour wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a 1bTarshish stone.
10 As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel.
11 When they moved, they went ain any of their four 1directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which 2they faced, without turning as they went.
12 Their awhole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the bwheels 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 aeach 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 aliving beings that I saw by the river Chebar.
16 Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go 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 1the cherubim astood still, 1the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, 1the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood aover the cherubim.
19 When athe 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 Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel 1hovered over them.
20 These are the aliving beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by bthe river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.
21 aEach one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form 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.
1 Moreover, the aSpirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and bPelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.
2 He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and agive evil advice in this city,
3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. 2This acity is the pot and we are the flesh.’
4 “Therefore, aprophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for aI know 1your bthoughts.
6 “You have amultiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with 1them.”
7 ‘Therefore, thus says the Lord 1God, “Your aslain whom you have laid in the midst of 2the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but 3I will bbring you out of it.
8 “You have afeared a sword; so I will bbring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares.
9 “And I will bring you out of the midst of 1the city and deliver you into the hands of astrangers and bexecute judgments against …