- In the sixth year , on the fifth day of the sixth month , I was sitting in my house , and the elders of Judah were sitting before me ; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.
Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire ... , and from His waist up (He) was as bright as the gleam of amber.
He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up - between earth ... and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem , to the entrance vvv of the north gate of the inner court , where ... the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.
And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel , like the vision - I had seen in the plain.
“ Son of man , ” He said to me , “ now lift up your eyes to the north. ” So I lifted up my eyes to the north , and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.
“ Son of man , ” He said to me , “ do you see what they are doing — the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing — ... to drive Me far from My sanctuary ? Yet ... you will see even greater abominations. ”
Then He brought me to the entrance to the court , and I looked and saw a hole in the wall.
“ Son of man , ” He told me , “ dig ... through the wall. ” So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway.
Then He said to me , “ Go in and see - the wicked abominations they are committing here. ”
So I went in and looked , and engraved ... all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast , along with all the idols of the house of Israel.
Before them stood seventy vvv elders of the house of Israel , with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand , and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
“ Son of man , ” He said to me , “ do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness , each at the shrine of his own idol ? For they are saying , ‘ The LORD does not see us ; the LORD has forsaken - the land. ’”
Again , ... He told me , “ You will see - them committing even greater abominations. ”
Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD - - , and I saw women sitting there , weeping - for Tammuz.
“ Son of man , ” He said to me , “ do you see (this) ? Yet ... you will see even greater abominations than these. ”
So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD , and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD , between the portico and the altar , were about twenty-five ... men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east ; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.
“ Son of man , ” He said to me , “ do you see this ? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit - the abominations - they are practicing here , that they must also fill - the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger ? Look, they are even putting - the branch to their nose !
Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity , nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly ... in My ears , I will not listen to them. ” -