Ezekiel 8:1-11

1In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house. The elders of Judah were sitting before me. There the hand of Adonai fell on me.

2I looked, and behold, a form resembling fire—from the appearance of his waist downward, fire; and from his loins and waist upward, something like the appearance of brightness, as glowing metal.

3Something like the form of a hand stretched out, and took me by the hair of my head. The Ruach lifted me up between the earth and the heaven. He brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court facing north—where the idol that provokes furious jealousy was.

4Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.

5He said to me: “Son of man, lift your eyes toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north. Behold, north of the gate of the altar, was this image provoking jealousy in the entrance.

6He said to me: “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, that drives me far off from My own Sanctuary? But you will see even greater abominations.”

7He brought me to the door of the court. When I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

8Then He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” When I had dug through the wall, there was a door.

9He said to me: “Go and see the wicked abominations that they do here.”

10So I went in and saw, behold, every detestable image of creeping things and beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel, engraved on the surrounding walls.

11Standing there before them were 70 men of the elders of the house of Israel, Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst, each man with his censer in his hand. A thick cloud of incense went up.