Study Desk

It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord ^[a] God fell on me there.

Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of ^[b]a man; from His loins and downward there was the ^(a)appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance ^(b)of ^[c]glowing metal.

He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the ^(c)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the ^[d]north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which ^(d)provokes to jealousy, was located.

And behold, the ^(e)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, ^(f)raise your eyes now toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this ^(g)idol of jealousy at the entrance.

And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(h)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations."

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

He said to me, "Son of man, now ⁽ⁱ⁾dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance.

And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here."

So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.

Standing in front of them were ^(j)seventy ^(k)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ^(l)censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘^(m)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has ⁽ⁿ⁾forsaken the land.'"

And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing."

Then He brought me to the entrance of the ^(o)gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these."

Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord , between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their ^(p)backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and ^(q)they were ^[e]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun.

He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have ^(r)filled the land with violence and ^(s)provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.

Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and ^(t)though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them."

Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud ^(a)voice saying, "Draw near, ^[a]O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand."

Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was ^(b)a certain man clothed in linen with a ^[b]writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then the ^(c)glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the ^[c]temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.

The Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a ^(d)mark on the foreheads of the men who ^(e)sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."

But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.

^[d]Utterly ^(f)slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not ^(g)touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall ^(h)start from My sanctuary." So they started with the ^[e]elders who were before the ^[f]temple.

And He said to them, "⁽ⁱ⁾Defile the ^[g]temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city.

As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I ^(j)fell on my face and cried out ^[h]saying, "^(k)Alas, Lord ^[i] God ! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel ^[j]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?"

Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is ^(l)filled with blood and the city is ^(m)full of perversion; for ⁽ⁿ⁾they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!'

But as for Me, ^(o)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but ^(p)I will bring their conduct upon their heads."

Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the ^[k]writing case ^[l]reported, saying, "I have done just as You have commanded me."