Abomination in the Temple

8 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house. The elders of Judah were sitting before me. There the hand of Adonai fell on me. ² I looked, and behold, a form resembling fire—from the appearance of his waist downward, fire; and from his loins and waist upward, something like the appearance of brightness, as glowing metal. ³ Something like the form of a hand stretched out, and took me by the hair of my head. The Ruach lifted me up between the earth and the heaven. He brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court facing north—where the idol that provokes furious jealousy was.

⁴ Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. ⁵ He said to me: “Son of man, lift your eyes toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north. Behold, north of the gate of the altar, was this image provoking jealousy in the entrance.

⁶ He said to me: “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, that drives me far off from My own Sanctuary? But you will see even greater abominations.”

⁷ He brought me to the door of the court. When I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. ⁸ Then He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” When I had dug through the wall, there was a door. ⁹ He said to me: “Go and see the wicked abominations that they do here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and saw, behold, every detestable image of creeping things and beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel, engraved on the surrounding walls. ¹¹ Standing there before them were 70 men of the elders of the house of Israel, Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst, each man with his censer in his hand. A thick cloud of incense went up.

¹² Then He said to me: “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chamber of his carved idol? For they say, ‘Adonai does not see us. Adonai has forsaken the land.’”

¹³ He said further to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they are doing.” ¹⁴ He brought me to the door of the gate of Adonai’s House, which was toward the north. Behold, the women sat there weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵ He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see even greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶ So He brought me into the inner court of Adonai’s House. Behold, at the door of the Temple of Adonai, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men, with their backs toward the Temple of Adonai and their faces toward the east—and they were bowing in worship eastward toward the sun.

¹⁷ He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it too light a thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations they practice here, that they must also fill the land with violence and provoke Me still more? Look, they are putting the twig to My nose! ¹⁸ Therefore I will indeed act in fury. My eye will not spare you nor will I have pity. Though they cry into My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”