Ezekiel 8:1–12:20
Abominations in the Temple and in Jerusalem
8 ⌊And then⌋a in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting ⌊before me⌋.b And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there, 2 and I saw,c and look! A figure like the appearance of a man;d from the appearance of his waist and below was fire, and from his waist and ⌊upward⌋e was like the appearance of brightness,f like the ⌊outward appearance of⌋g amber. 3 And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate ⌊that faced north⌋,h at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous. 4 And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley. 5 And he said to me, “Son of man,i lift up nowj your eyes ⌊toward the north⌋.”k And I lifted up my eyes ⌊toward the north⌋,l and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man,m “⌊Do you see⌋n what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committingo here so as to drive me fromp my sanctuary, and yet ⌊you will see again⌋q greaterr detestable things.” 7 And he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I saw, and look! A hole in the wall. 8 And he said to me, “Son of man,s dig nowt through the wall.” And I dug through the wall, and look! There was a doorway. 9 And he said to me, “Come and see the detestable things, the evil that they are doingu here. 10 And I came, and I saw, and look, all kinds of creaturesv and detestable beasts;w and all of the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall ⌊all around⌋.x 11 And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing ⌊before them⌋.y Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up. 12 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man,z what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.’ ” 13 And he said to me, “Still ⌊you will see again⌋a greater detestable things that they are doing.” 14 And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz. 15 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?b Still ⌊you will see again⌋c greater detestable things than these.” 16 And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun. 17 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?d ⌊Was it too small a thing⌋e for the house of Judah ⌊to do⌋f the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and ⌊they provoked me to anger again⌋,g and look! They are putting the branch to their nose. 18 And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them.”
Yahweh’s Avenging Messenger Destroys the Wicked in the City
9 And he called in my ears with a loud voice, ⌊saying⌋,a “They have come near,b the punishers of the city, and each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. 2 And look! Six men coming from the way of ⌊the upper gate⌋c that faced ⌊northward⌋,d and each with his weapon fore shattering in his hand; and one man was in the midst of them, dressed in linen, and thef writing case of the scribe was at his side. And they came and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 And the glory of the God of Israel lifted itself up from upon the cherub that he was ong and went to the threshold of the house,h and he called to the man who was clothed in linen ⌊with a scribal writing case at his side⌋.i 4 And Yahweh said to him, “Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men ⌊who are groaning and lamenting⌋j about all of the detestable things ⌊that are being done⌋k in the midst of her.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city behind him and kill! Your eyes shall not take pity, and you shall not have compassion. 6 You must kill ⌊totally⌋l old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but ⌊concerning⌋m every man ⌊with the mark on him⌋n you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin.” And they began with the old men who ⌊were before⌋o the house.p 7 And he said to them, “Defile the houseq and fill the courtyards with the dead; go out! And they went out, and they killed in the city. 8 ⌊And then⌋r ⌊as they were striking⌋,s and I was left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! “Will you be destroying all of the remnant of Israel ⌊while you pour out your rage⌋t on Jerusalem?” 9 And he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is ⌊exceedingly⌋u great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and ⌊Yahweh does not see⌋.v 10 And I, my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion; their way I will bring on their head.” 11 And look! The man clothed in linen and ⌊with a writing case at his side⌋w was bringing back a word, ⌊saying⌋,x “I have done all that you commanded me.”
God’s Presence Leaves the Temple
10 And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire,a and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. 2 And he spokeb to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go ⌊in among the wheel area under the cherubim⌋c and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes. 3 Nowd the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple ⌊when the man went⌋,e and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub towardf the threshold of the house,g and the househ was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard ⌊as far as⌋i the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddaij ⌊when he speaks⌋.k
6 And then at his commandl to the man clothed in linen, ⌊saying⌋,m “Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim,” he went and stood beside the wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from amongn the cherubim toward the fire that was amongo the cherubim, and he lifted up and gavep it into the hollow of the hand of the man clothed with linen, and he took it, and he went out.
8 And there appeared forq the cherubim the form of ⌊a human hand⌋r under their wings. 9 And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, ⌊one wheel beside each cherub⌋,s and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of ⌊turquoise stone⌋.t 10 Their appearanceu ⌊was the same for each of the four of them⌋,v as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. 11 ⌊When they went⌋w to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction ⌊when they went⌋,x for the place to which the heady turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. 12 And ⌊their whole body⌋,z and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—⌊the wheels for the four of them⌋.a 13 Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” ⌊in my hearing⌋.b 14 And ⌊each one had four faces⌋;c the face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a human, and the face of the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creaturesd that I saw at the ⌊Kebar River⌋.e 16 And ⌊when the cherubim went⌋,f the wheels beside them went; and ⌊when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth⌋,g the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. 17 ⌊When they stood⌋,h they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 And the glory of Yahweh went out fromi the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels werej beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the templek of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel ⌊was over them⌋.l
20 This wasm the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the ⌊Kebar River⌋,n and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 ⌊Each one had four faces⌋,o and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of ⌊human hands⌋p was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces, they were the faces that I saw at the ⌊Kebar River⌋;q thus was their appearance, and they each went ⌊straight ahead⌋.r
11 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the templea of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people. 2 And he said to me, “Son of man,b these are the men ⌊who devise mischief⌋,c and who are offering bad counsel in this city, 3 who are saying, ‘The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”d