The Prophet Ezekiel

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- Kapitel 8 -

On the fifth day of the sixth month, almost six years after the Babylonians had taken us Israelites to their land, I was sitting with the leaders of Judah in my house when I felt the presence of Yahweh the Lord come on me again.

Then in a vision I saw someone who resembled a man, but below his waist his body was like fire and above his waist his body was glowing like very hot metal.

He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up high above the earth, and in visions God took me from Babylon to Jerusalem. He took me to the temple, to the inner north gate, to the place where there was an idol that caused Yahweh to be very disgusted and furious.

And there in front of me was the very bright light of God himself whom the Israelite people previously worshiped. It was like the vision that I had seen in the plain.

God said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north!” So I looked, and I saw at the entrance of the gate near the altar that idol that caused Yahweh to be disgusted and furious.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the Israelite people are doing? They are doing detestable things here, things that will cause me to abandon my temple. But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

Then he brought me to the entrance of the courtyard. I looked and saw a hole in the wall.

He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall here.” So I dug through the wall, and I saw a doorway inside.

He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things that they are doing here!”

So I went in through the doorway and looked, and I saw all over the walls of a big room, drawings of all kinds of creatures that crawl along the ground and other detestable animals, and drawings of all the idols that the people of Israel were worshiping.

In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel. Jaazaniah son of Shaphan, was standing among them. Each of them was holding a pan in which incense was burning, and fragrant smoke of burning incense was rising up.

God said to me, “Son of man, look at what the Israelite elders are doing here in the darkness, each of them standing in his rooms with the carved images, worshiping his own idols! They are saying, ‘Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has deserted this country.’”

He also said, “But you will see things that are even more detestable!”

Then he took me to the entrance at the outer north gate of the temple. I saw women sitting there, mourning for the death of the god of the people of Babylonia, Tammuz.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see this? And you will see things that are more detestable than this!”

Then he took me into the inner courtyard inside the temple. There at the entrance of the temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men. Their backs were toward the temple, and their faces were toward the east; they were bowing down to worship the sun as it rose in the east.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? Do you think that it is not a serious thing that these men of Judah are doing, worshiping these detestable things here? But they are doing other terrible things. They are acting violently throughout their country, and continually provoking my anger. Look at them! They are insulting me by their actions of false worship!

So I will show them that I am very angry. I will not pity them or act mercifully toward them. And even if they shout loudly to me to help them, I will not pay attention to them.”

In the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, the Lord GOD’s hand fell on me there.

Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire—from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire, and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.

He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the 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 image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet other great abominations.”

He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall.” When I had dug in the wall, I saw a door.

He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.”

So I went in and looked, and saw every form of creeping things, abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.

Seventy men of the 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.

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 rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘The LORD doesn’t see us. The LORD has forsaken the land.’”

He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.”

Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz.

Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”

He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and I saw at the door of the LORD’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the LORD’s temple and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.

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 the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger. Behold, they put the branch to their nose.

Therefore I will also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”