Ezekiel 8:1-11

It was the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month of our captivity. I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah in front of me. There I felt the power of the Lord GOD. I looked and saw something that looked like a human. From the waist down it looked like fire, and from the waist up it looked like bright glowing metal. It stretched out the shape of a hand and caught me by the hair on my head. The Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the sky. He took me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple. In the courtyard was the idol that caused God to be jealous. I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, as I had seen on the plain. Then he said to me, “Human, now look toward the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar was the idol that caused God to be jealous. He said to me, “Human, do you see what they are doing? Do you see how many hateful things the people of Israel are doing here that drive me far away from my Temple? But you will see things more hateful than these.” Then he brought me to the entry of the courtyard. When I looked, I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Human, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and saw an entrance. Then he said to me, “Go in and see the hateful, evil things they are doing here.” So I entered and looked, and I saw every kind of crawling thing and hateful beast and all the idols of the people of Israel, carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of these carvings and idols were seventy of the elders of Israel and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each man had his pan for burning incense in his hand, and a sweet-smelling cloud of incense was rising.