Abominations in the Temple and in Jerusalem

¹ ⌞And then⌟¹ in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting ⌞before me⌟.² And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there,

1. Literally “and it happened”
2. Literally “to the face of me”

² and I saw,¹ and look! A figure like the appearance of a man;² from the appearance of his waist and below was fire, and from his waist and ⌞upward⌟³ was like the appearance of brightness,⁴ like the ⌞outward appearance of⌟⁵ amber.

1. Or “looked”
2. Hebrew “fire”; but reading the BHS note 2b, “a man.”
3. Literally “to above”
4. Or “shining metal”
5. Literally “eye”

³ And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate ⌞that faced north⌟,¹ at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous.

1. Literally “the one facing north”

⁴ And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley.

⁵ And he said to me, “Son of man,¹ lift up now² your eyes ⌞toward the north⌟.”³ And I lifted up my eyes ⌞toward the north⌟,⁴ and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Particle of entreaty, “please/ please now”
3. Literally “to the way of the north”
4. Literally “to the way of the north”

⁶ And he said to me, “Son of man,¹ “⌞Do you see⌟² what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committing³ here so as to drive me from⁴ my sanctuary, and yet ⌞you will see again⌟⁵ greater⁶ detestable things.”

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “Are you seeing?”
3. Or “doing”
4. Hebrew “from upon”
5. Literally “you will return you will see”
6. Or “worse”

⁷ And he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I saw, and look! A hole in the wall.

⁸ And he said to me, “Son of man,¹ dig now² through the wall.” And I dug through the wall, and look! There was a doorway.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Or “please”

⁹ And he said to me, “Come and see the detestable things, the evil that they are doing¹ here.

1. Or “making”

¹⁰ And I came, and I saw, and look, all kinds of creatures¹ and detestable beasts;² and all of the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall ⌞all around⌟.³

1. Hebrew “creature”
2. Hebrew “beast”
3. Literally “around around”

¹¹ And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing ⌞before them⌟.¹ Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up.

1. Literally “to the face of them”

¹² And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man,¹ what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.’ ”

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”

¹³ And he said to me, “Still ⌞you will see again⌟¹ greater detestable things that they are doing.”

1. Literally “you will return, you will see”

¹⁴ And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵ And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?¹ Still ⌞you will see again⌟² greater detestable things than these.”

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “you will return, you will see”

¹⁶ And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun.

¹⁷ And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?¹ ⌞Was it too small a thing⌟² for the house of Judah ⌞to do⌟³ the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and ⌞they provoked me to anger again⌟,⁴ and look! They are putting the branch to their nose.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “was it too little”
3. Literally “from doing”
4. Literally “they returned to provoke me to anger”

¹⁸ And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them.”