⁵Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and there to the north, beside the entrance to the gate near the altar, stood the idol that had made the Lord so jealous.

⁶“Son of man,” he said, “do you see what they are doing? Do you see the detestable sins the people of Israel are committing to drive me from my Temple? But come, and you will see even more detestable sins than these!” ⁷Then he brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the wall. ⁸He said to me, “Now, son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and found a hidden doorway.

⁹“Go in,” he said, “and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!” ¹⁰So I went in and saw the walls covered with engravings of all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel. ¹¹Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads.

¹²Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’ ” ¹³Then the Lord added, “Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”

¹⁴He brought me to the north gate of the Lord’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz. ¹⁵“Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”

¹⁶Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. At the entrance to the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of the Lord. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!

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