Ezekiel 8–11

Abominations in the Temple

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. ²Then I looked, and behold, ^ha form that had the appearance of a man.^{1 h}Below 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. ⁴And behold, ^rthe glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw ^sin the valley.

⁵Then 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. ⁶And 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.”

⁷And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸Then he said to me, “Son of man, ^ydig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. ⁹And he said to me, “Go in, and see ^zthe vile abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰So 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. ¹¹And 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. ¹²Then 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.’ ” ¹³He said also to me, ^k“You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

¹⁴Then he brought me to ^lthe entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O ^tson of man? ^kYou will see still greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶And 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. ¹⁷Then 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. ¹⁸Therefore ^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.”

Idolaters Killed

9Then 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.” ²And 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.

³Now ^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. ⁴And 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.” ⁵And 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. ^6jKill 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. ⁷Then 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. ⁸And 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?”

⁹Then 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.’ ¹⁰As for me, ^umy eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; ^vI will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

¹¹And 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

10Then 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. ²And 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. ³Now the cherubim were standing ^eon the south side of the house, when the man went in, and ^fa cloud filled ^gthe inner court. ⁴And ^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. ⁵And ^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.

⁶And 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. ⁷And 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. ⁸The cherubim appeared to have ^othe form of a human hand under their wings.

^9pAnd 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. ¹⁰And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ^11tWhen they went, they went in any of their four directions^{2 u}without turning as they went, ^vbut in whatever direction the front wheel³ faced, the others followed without turning as they went. ^12wAnd 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. ¹³As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing ⁿ“the whirling wheels.” ^14xAnd 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.

^15aAnd the cherubim mounted up. These were ^bthe living creatures that I saw by ^cthe Chebar canal. ^16dAnd 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. ^17eWhen 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.

^18fThen ^gthe glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ^19hAnd 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.

^20lThese were the living creatures that I saw ^munderneath the God of Israel by ⁿthe Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. ^21oEach had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings ^pthe likeness of human hands. ^22qAnd 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.

Judgment on Wicked Counselors

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. ²And he said to me, ^x“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; ^3ywho say, ^z‘The time is not near¹ to build houses. ^aThis city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ ⁴Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”

⁵And ^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. ^6dYou have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. ⁷Therefore 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. ^8fYou have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. ⁹And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and ^ggive you into the hands of foreigners, and ^hexecute judgments upon you. ¹⁰ⁱYou shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ^jand you shall know that I am the Lord. ^11kThis city shall not be…