The Vision of Idolatry in the Temple
1 On the fifth day of the sixth month, in the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, there, the hand of the Lord fell upon me.
2 Then I looked and there was a likeness of a man with the appearance of fire. From his waist down, fire, and from his waist up, was like the appearance of sheer brightness, like metal, glowing amber. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north, where there was the seat of the idol, which provokes God’s jealous indignation.
4 The glory of the the Lord of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. 5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.”
So I lifted up my eyes toward the north and saw, north of the altar gate, this idol of jealousy in the entry.
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, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet even greater abominations.”
7 He brought me to the door of the court, and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Son of man, now dig in the wall.”
When I had dug in the wall, I saw a door.
9 He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they are doing here.”
10 So I went in and looked, and engraved around on the walls, I saw every form of crawling creatures and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 Seventy elders of the house of Israel stood before them. In the middle of them Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood, every man with his censer in his hand, and the smell of the cloud of incense went up.
12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his room of carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
13 He also said to me, “You will see still more of these great abominations which they are doing.”
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the house of the Lord which was toward the north, and I saw the women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will continue seeing yet greater abominations than these.”
16 He brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and I saw at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit these abominations which they are committing here? For they have filled the land with violence, repeatedly provoking my anger. Indeed, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I will also deal with them in wrath. I will not spare them, nor will I look on them with pity. Although they cry in my ears loudly, I will not hear them.”