Study Desk

Now 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 ^(F1)GOD fell upon me there.

Then I looked, and behold, something like the appearance of ^(F1)a man; from His waist and downward there was the ^(C1)appearance of fire, and from His waist and upward like the appearance of a glow, like ^(C2)gleaming ^(F2)metal.

And He extended the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the ^(C1)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the ^(F1)north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which ^(C2)provokes to jealousy, was located.

And behold, the ^(C1)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, ^(C1)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 ^(C2)idol of jealousy at the entrance.

And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(C1)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 courtyard, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

And He said to me, "Son of man, now ^(C1)dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance.

Then 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 crawling things and animals and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.

And standing in front of them were ^(C1)seventy ^(C2)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ^(C3)censer in his hand; and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was rising.

Then He said to me, "Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his carved images? For they say, '^(C1)The LORD does not see us; the LORD has ^(C2)abandoned 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 ^(C1)gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for ^(F1)Tammuz.

And 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 courtyard 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 ^(C1)backs to the temple of the LORD while their faces were toward the east; and ^(C2)they were ^(F1)prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun.

And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it a trivial thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have ^(C1)filled the land with violence and ^(C2)provoked Me to anger repeatedly? Yet behold, they are ^(F1)putting the twig to their nose!

"Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and ^(C1)though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them."

Then He cried out in my ^(F1)presence with a loud ^(C1)voice, saying, "Come forward, you ^(F2)executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand."

And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his smashing weapon in his hand; and among them was ^(C1)one man clothed in linen with a scribe's kit at his waist. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then the ^(C1)glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the ^(F1)temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose waist was the scribe's kit.

And the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a ^(C1)mark on the foreheads of the people who ^(C2)groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."

But to the others He said in my ^(F1)presence, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.

"^(F1)Utterly ^(C1)kill old men, young men, female virgins, little children, and women, but do not ^(C2)touch any person on whom is the mark; and you shall ^(C3)start from My sanctuary." So they started with the ^(F2)elders who were before the ^(F3)temple.

He also said to them, "^(C1)Defile the ^(F1)temple and fill the courtyards with the dead. Go out!" So they went out and struck and killed the people in the city.

And as they were striking the people and I alone was left, I ^(C1)fell on my face and cried out, ^(F1)saying, "^(C2)Oh, Lord ^(F2)GOD! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel ^(F3)by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?"

Then He said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is ^(C1)filled with blood, and the city is ^(C2)full of perversion; for ^(C3)they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see!'

"But as for Me, ^(C1)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but ^(C2)I will bring their conduct upon their heads."

Then behold, the man clothed in linen, at whose waist was the scribe's kit, ^(F1)reported, saying, "I have done just as You have commanded me."