Ezekiel 8–11

8^*And it came to pass ^ain the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and ^bthe elders of Judah sat before me, that ^cthe hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. ²Then I beheld, and lo ^da likeness as the appearance of fire: ^dfrom the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of ^ebrightness, ^fas the colour of amber. ³And ^ghe put forth ^hthe form of an hand, and ⁱtook me by a lock of mine head; and ^jthe spirit lifted me up ^kbetween the earth and the heaven, and ^lbrought me ^min the visions of God to Jerusalem, ⁿto the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; ^owhere was the seat of ^pthe image of jealousy, ^qwhich provoketh to jealousy. ⁴And, behold, ^rthe glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw ^sin the plain.

⁵Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, ^tand behold northward at the gate of ^uthe altar this ^pimage of jealousy in the entry. ⁶He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even ^tuuthe great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. ⁷And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold ^va hole in the wall. ⁸Then said he unto me, Son of man, ^vvdig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. ⁹And he said unto me, Go in, and ^tbehold the wicked abominations that they do here. ¹⁰So I went in and saw; and behold every form of ^wcreeping things, and ^tabominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, ^xpourtrayed upon the wall round about. ¹¹And there stood before them ^yseventy men of ^zthe ancients of the house of Israel, and ^ain the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of ^bShaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. ¹²Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what ^zthe ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of ^chis imagery? for they say, ^deThe Lord seeth us not; ^dthe Lord hath forsaken the earth. ¹³He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

¹⁴Then he brought me to the door of ^fthe gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. ¹⁶And he brought me into ^gthe inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, ^hbetween ⁱthe porch and ^kthe altar, were ^labout five and twenty men, ^mwith their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and ⁿthey worshipped ^othe sun toward the east. ¹⁷Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? ^||Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they ^uucommit the abominations which they commit here? for ^pthey have filled the land with ^qviolence, and have returned ^rto provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put ^sthe branch to their nose. ^18tTherefore will I also deal in fury: ^umine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and ^vthough they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

9He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them ^athat have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. ²And, behold, six ^bmen came from the way of ^cthe higher gate, ^†dwhich lieth toward the north, and every man ^†a slaughter weapon in his hand; and ^fone man among them was ^gclothed with linen, ^gwith a writer’s inkhorn ^†by his side: and they went in, and stood beside ^hthe brasen altar. ³And ⁱthe glory of the God of Israel ^kwas gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to ^lthe threshold of the house. And he called to ^fthe man ^gclothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; ⁴And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and ^†oset a mark upon ^pthe foreheads of the men ^qthat sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. ⁵And to ^qqthe others he said in ^†mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: ^rlet not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: ^6sSlay ^†utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but ^tcome not near any man upon whom is ⁿthe mark; and ^ubegin at my sanctuary. Then they began at ^vthe ancient men which were before the house. ⁷And he said unto them, ^wDefile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

⁸And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, ^xthat ^yI fell upon my face, and cried, and said, ^zAh Lord God! ^xwilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel ^ain thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? ⁹Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and ^bthe land is ^†full of blood, and the city full of ^||perverseness: for they say, ^cThe Lord hath forsaken the earth, and ^dthe Lord seeth not. ¹⁰And as for me also, ^drmine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but ^eI will recompense their way upon their head. ¹¹And, behold, ^fgthe man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, ^†reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

10Then I looked, and, behold, in ^athe firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them ^bas it were a sapphire stone, ^bas the appearance of the likeness of ^ca throne. ²And he spake unto ^dthe man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between ^ethe wheels, even under the cherub, and fill ^†thine hand with ^fcoals of fire from between the cherubims, and ^gscatter them over the city. And he went in ^hin my sight. ³Now the cherubims stood ⁱon the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled ^jthe inner court. ⁴Then ^kthe glory of the Lord ^†went up from the cherub, and stood over ^lthe threshold of the house; and ^mthe house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of ^knthe brightness of the Lord’s glory. ⁵And ⁿⁿthe sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, ⁿas the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. ⁶And it came to pass, that when he had commanded ^dthe man clothed with linen, saying, ^oTake fire from between ^ethe wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. ⁷And one cherub ^†stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into ^othe hands of ^dhim that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.

^8pAnd there appeared in the cherubims ^qthe form of a man’s hand under their wings. ^9rAnd when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and ^sthe appearance of the wheels was as ^tthe colour of a beryl stone. ¹⁰And as for their appearances, ^sthey four had one likeness, ^sas if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. ^11uWhen they went, they went ^vupon their four sides; ^uthey turned not as they went, but ^wto the place whither the head looked they followed it; ^uthey turned not as they went. ¹²And their whole ^†body, and ^xtheir backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were ^xfull of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. ¹³As for ^ethe wheels, ^||it was cried unto them in my hearing, ^eO wheel. ^14zAnd every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and ^athe second face was the face of a man, and ^athe third the face of a lion, and ^athe fourth the face of an eagle. ¹⁵And the cherubims ^bwere lifted up. ^cThis is the living creature that I saw ^dby the river of Chebar. ^16eAnd when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: ^eand when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. ^17fWhen they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these ^blifted up themselves also: for ^gthe spirit ^||of the living creature was in them.

¹⁸Then ^hthe glory of the Lord ⁱdeparted from off ^hthe threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. ^19jAnd the cherubims lifted up their wings, and ^bmounted up from the earth ^kin my sight: when they went out, ^jthe wheels also were ^lbeside them, and every one stood at the door of ^mthe east gate of the Lord’s house; and ^hjthe glory of the God of Israel was over them above. ^20cThis is the living creature that I saw ⁿunder the God of Israel ^dby the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the ^ocherubims. ^21pEvery one had four faces apiece, ^pand every one four wings; and ^qthe likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. ^22rAnd the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw ^dby the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: ^sthey went every one straight forward.

11Moreover ^athe spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto ^bthe east gate of the Lord’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate ^cfive and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of ^dAzur, and ^ePelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ²Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: ^3fWhich say, ^||gIt is not near; ^hlet us build houses: ⁱthis city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. ⁴Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. ^5kAnd the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know ^lthe things that come into your mind, every one of them. ^6mYe have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. ⁷Therefore thus saith the Lord God; ⁿYour slain whom ye have laid in the…