1. AND it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O 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 returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

1And it came to passe in the sixt yeere, in the sixt moneth, in the fift day of the month, as I sate in mine house, and the elders of Iudah sate before me; that the hand of the Lord God fell there vpon me.

2Then I beheld, and loe, a likenesse as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loines euen downeward, fire: and from his loines euen vpward, as the appearance of brightnesse, as the colour of amber.

3And he put forth the forme of an hand, and tooke me by a locke of mine head, and the spirit lift me vp betweene the earth and the heauen, and brought me in the visions of God to Ierusalem, to the doore of the inner gate, that looketh toward the North, where was the seate of the image of ielousie, which prouoketh to ielousie.

4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there according to the vision that I saw in the plaine.

5 Then said he vnto me, Sonne of man, lift vp thine eyes now the way towards the North: so I lift vp mine eyes the way toward the North, and behold, Northward at the gate of the altar, this image of ielousie in the entry.

6He said furthermore vnto me, Sonne of man, seest thou what they doe? euen the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth heere, that I should goe farre off from my sanctuarie? but turne thee yet againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

7 And hee brought me to the doore of the court, and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

8Then said he vnto me, Sonne of man, digge now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a doore.

9And he said vnto me, Goe in, and behold the wicked abominations that they doe heere.

10So I went in and saw, and behold euery forme of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel purtrayed vpon the wall round about.

11And there stood before them seuentie men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the middest of them stood Iaazaniah the sonne of Shaphan, with euery man his censer in his hand, and a thicke cloud of incense went vp.

12Then said he vnto me, Sonne of man, hast thou seene what the ancients of the house of Israel doe in the darke, euery man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth vs not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.

13 Hee said also vnto me, Turne thee yet againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they doe.

14Then he brought me to the doore of the gate of the Lords house which was towards the North, and behold, there sate women weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then said hee vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Turne thee yet againe, and thou shalt see greater abominations then these.

16And he brought me into the inner court of the Lords house, and behold at the doore of the Temple of the Lord, betweene the porch and the altar, were about fiue and twentie men, with their backes toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the East, and they worshipped the sunne towards the East.

17 Then he said vnto me, Hast thou seene this, O sonne of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Iudah, that they commit the abominations, which they commit heere? for they haue filled the land with violence, and haue returned to prouoke me to anger: and loe, they put the branch to their nose.

18Therefore will I also deale in furie: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I haue pitie: and though they crie in mine eares with a loud voyce, yet will I not heare them.

II = Ezek 1:4 , 26-27

III == Deut 32:16 , 21 ; Jer 7:30 ; 32:34 ; Ezek 3:14 ; 5:11 ; 11:1 , 24 ; 40:2 ; Dan 5:5

IV == Ezek 1:28 ; 3:22-23

XII == Ezek 9:9

XVI == Deut 4:19 ; 2nd Kings 23:5 , 11 ; Job 31:26 ; Jer 2:27 ; 32:33 ; 44:17 ; Ezek 11:1 ; Joel 2:17

XVII == Ezek 9:9

XVIII == Lev 16:4 ; Prov 1:28 ; Isa 1:15 ; Jer 11:11 ; 14:12 ; Ezek 5:11 , 13 ; 7:4 , 9 ; 9:5 , 10 ; 10:2 , 6-7 ; 16:42 ; 24:13 ; Mic 3:4 ; Zech 7:13 ; rev 15:6

3 Spirit lifted me up in the air and brought me in divine visions to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where stood the statue of jealousy which stirs up jealousy.

5 He said to me: Son of man, look toward the north! I looked toward the north and saw northward of the gate the altar of the statue of jealousy.

6 Son of man, he asked me, do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great abominations that the house of Israel is practicing here, so that I must depart from my sanctuary? But you shall see still greater abominations!

7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the court, where I saw there was a hole in the wall.

8 Son of man, he ordered, dig through the wall. I dug through the wall and saw a door.

9 Enter, he said to me, and see the abominable evils which they are doing here.

10 I entered and saw that all around upon the wall were pictured the figures of all kinds of creeping things and loathsome beasts (all the idols of the house of Israel).

11 Before these stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel, among whom stood Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, each of them with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the incense was rising upward.

12 Then he said to me: Do you see, son of man, what each of these elders of the house of Israel is doing in his idol room? They think: "The LORD cannot see us; the LORD has forsaken the land."

13 He continued: You shall see still greater abominations that they are practicing.

14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the temple, and I saw sitting there the women who were weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then he said to me: Do you see this, son of man? You shall see other abominations, greater than these!

16 Then he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and there at the door of the LORD'S temple, between the vestibule and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the LORD'S temple and their faces toward the east; they were bowing down to the sun.

SEVERAL VISIONS INVOLVING THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM WERE COMBINED TO FORM A SINGLE CONTINUOUSE VISION. IN AN ATTEMPT TO SEPARATE THE ORIGINAL VISIONS. THIS IS WHY NUMBERS ARE MISSING.

This vision was in the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, on 9-17-572 BC. Ezekiel had been pronouncing judgment, and now God takes him to Jerusalem in vision form, not physically to see what the wickedness was. He was not to go out in public, 3:24, without God’s permission, so the elders had come to him in his house. This new vision is in four parts: Chapter 8, The wickedness of the people; Chapter 9, the slaughter of the people;  Chapter 10, The glory departing from the temple because of wickedness; Chapter 11, As it left, judgment pronounce on the rulers.
The elders do not see the vision, but he tells them what he is seeing. The glory of God was there like in his vision on the plain, 1:8 and 3:22,23, but he describes it vaguely as the likeness and the appearance. It had been two years since he had shaved his head, so the appearance of a hand was able to take hold of it.

v 5,6. Beside the north entrance of the inner court he saw the idol that provokes God to jealousy. It was possibly an Ashera pole to the Canaanite goddess of fertility. Manasseh had put it in the temple, 2 Ki. 21:7, but later removed it, 2 Chr. 33:13, 15. Someone replaced it and Josiah removed it, 2 Ki. 23:  6, but it was probably put back. Some think it was an image to Tammuz.

v 7-12. In vision Ezekiel was told to dig through the wall and he saw a door. As he entered, he saw seventy elders of the people worshiping idols in the very shadow of the temple. Shaphan had a godly family, but even his son, Jaazaniah, was there, burning incense to false gods. He had probably replaced his father as comptroller of the temple.

v 13-14. The one in the vision, v 2, now takes him to something worse. At the entrance women were weeping for Tammuz. He was the god of spring and was thought to die in the fall, go into the underworld, and during at least the 40 days before Easter, women would mourn for him. He would come to life in spring and bring rain. He was also involved in fertility rites.  Women prostituted for idol. Tammuz was also supposedly husband and brother to Ishtar or Ashera, mentioned in v 5 of my notes. Called also Ashtareth, (Astarte sometimes considered the male counterpart, or Baal) and Anath, from the lewd Babylonian goddess Ishtar. All have similarity and duplication of immoral religions. See special article on “Tammuz” in a separate article on my computer. 

v 15,16. Worse yet, 25 men who were leaders and priests were standing between the temple and altar of sacrifice facing east. They had turned their backs on God and were worshiping the sun god. They were probably the head of the twenty four courses of priests as well as the high priest.

v 17,18. The evil practiced in the temple area spread throughout the people. The statement of branch to the nose is uncertain. after The manner of the ancient Parsees, who worshipped the rising sun holding in their left hand a bundle of twigs. It was common for pagans to carry branches in worship, and Jews may have incorporated some of the filthy customs to their branches at the feast of tabernacles. Since the context is sun worshipers, this may come from those who held a fragrant branch over their face as they worshipped the sun.  Some think this to have been mistranslated and meant the stench had come to God’s nose. It was too late for them to call upon Him now, He was going to deal with them in His wrath. Again see my article on Tammuz.