Ezekiel 8

Idolatry in the Temple

8Then on September 17

, during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, while the leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign Lord took hold of me.H8345H8141H8345H2568H2320H3427H1004H2205H3063H3427H6440H3027H136H3069H53072I saw a figure that appeared to be a man. From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like a burning flame. From the waist up he looked like gleaming amber

.H7200H1823H4758H784H4758H4975H4295H784H4975H4605H4758H2096H5869H28303He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the Lord very jealous.H7971H8403H3027H3947H6734H7218H7307H5375H776H8064H935H4759H430H3389H6607H6442H8179H6437H6828H4186H5566H7068H70694Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.H3519H430H3478H4758H7200H12375Then 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.H559H1121H120H5375H5869H1870H6828H5375H5869H1870H6828H6828H8179H4196H5566H7068H8726“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!”H559H1121H120H7200H6213H1419H8441H1004H3478H6213H7368H4720H7725H7200H1419H84417Then he brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the wall.H935H6607H2691H7200H259H2356H70238He said to me, “Now, son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and found a hidden doorway.H559H1121H120H2864H7023H2864H7023H259H66079“Go in,” he said, “and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!”H559H935H7200H7451H8441H621310So I went in and saw the walls engraved with all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols

worshiped by the people of Israel.H935H7200H8403H7431H8263H929H1544H1004H3478H2707H7023H543911Seventy 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.H5975H6440H7657H376H2205H1004H3478H8432H5975H2970H1121H8227H376H4730H3027H6282H6051H7004H592712Then 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!’”H559H1121H120H7200H2205H1004H3478H6213H2822H376H2315H4906H559H3068H7200H3068H5800H77613Then the Lord added, “Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”H559H7725H7200H1419H8441H621314He brought me to the north gate of the Lord’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz.H935H6607H8179H3068H1004H6828H3427H802H1058H854215“Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”H559H7200H1121H120H7725H7200H1419H844116Then 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!H935H6442H2691H3068H1004H6607H1964H3068H197H4196H2568H6242H376H268H1964H3068H6440H6924H7812H8121H692417“Have you seen this, son of man?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these detestable sins, leading the whole nation into violence, thumbing their noses at me, and provoking my anger?H559H7200H1121H120H7043H1004H3063H6213H8441H6213H4390H776H2555H7725H3707H7971H2156H63918Therefore, I will respond in fury. I will neither pity nor spare them. And though they cry for mercy, I will not listen.”H6213H2534H5869H2347H2550H7121H241H1419H6963H8085