Ezekiel 8:5-18

5Then the Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, look up towards the north.’ When I looked, I saw the disgusting idol. It stood at the entrance, on the north side of the altar gate.

6He said to me, ‘Son of man, look at what they are doing! Israel's people are doing very disgusting things here. They are chasing me far away from my holy temple. But you will see even worse things than these.’

7Then the Lord took me to the entrance of the temple's yard. As I looked, I saw a hole in the wall.

8He said to me, ‘Son of man, make a hole through the wall here.’ So I dug into the wall. I found a door in it.

9He said to me, ‘Go in there. Look at the wicked things that they are doing in this place.’

10So I went in and I looked. I saw pictures of many things on the walls all around. There were pictures of snakes and other disgusting animals. There were also images of the things that Israel's people were worshipping.

1170 of Israel's leaders were there. Shaphan's son Jaazaniah, was also among them. Each of them held a pot to burn incense. The smell of the incense rose up above them.

12The Lord said, ‘Son of man, look at the wicked things that Israel's leaders are doing! They are doing them secretly in the dark. Each of them has a room where they worship their images of idols. They say, “The Lord does not see us! The Lord has gone away from our land!” ’

13The Lord said to me, ‘You will see even worse things that they are doing.’

14Then he took me to entrance at the north gate of the temple. I saw some women who were sitting there. They were weeping because the god Tammuz was dead.

15He said to me, ‘Son of man, look at that! But you will see even worse things than these.’

16Then the Lord took me to the inside yard of his temple. I could see about 25 men who were standing between the altar and the front of the temple. Their backs were turned towards the Lord's temple. Their faces looked towards the east. They were bending down low to worship the sun that was rising in the east!

17The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, look at that! The people of Judah are doing these disgusting things here in my temple! That is a terrible thing! And they are also doing violent things everywhere in their land. They continue to make me angry all the time. Look at them! They insult me as much as they can!

18So now I will punish them in my great anger. I will not be sorry for them. I will not be kind to them. They may shout at me for help, but I will not listen to them.’