8 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting at home, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me. 2As I looked, there was a figure that had the appearance of fire:a from what appeared as his loins down, [he was] fire; and from his loins up, his appearance was resplendent and had the color of amber. 3He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by the hair of my head. A spirit lifted me up between heaven and earth and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the Penimithb Gate that faces north; that was the site of the infuriating image that provokes fury. 4And the Presence of the God of Israel appeared there, like the vision that I had seen in the valley.c
5And He said to me, “O mortal, turn your eyes northward.” I turned my eyes northward, and there, d-north of the gate of the altar, was-d that infuriating image on the approach.b 6And He said to me, “Mortal, do you see what they are doing, the terrible abominations that the House of Israel is practicing here, e-to drive Me far-e from My Sanctuary? You shall yet see even greater abominations!”
7Then He brought me to the entrance of the court;f and I looked, and there was a hole in the wall. 8He said to me, “Mortal, break through the wall”; so I broke through the wall and found an entrance. 9And He said to me, “Enter and see the vile abominations that they are practicing here.” 10I entered and looked, and there all detestable forms of creeping things and beasts and all the fetishes of the House of Israel were depicted over the entire wall. 11Before them stood seventy men, elders of the House of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst. Everyone had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense smoke ascended. 12Again He spoke to me, “O mortal, have you seen what the elders of the House of Israel are doing in the darkness, everyone in his image-covered chamber? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has abandoned the country.’ ” 13And He said to me, “You shall see even more terrible abominations which they practice.”
14Next He brought me to the entrance of the north g-gate of the House of the LORD;-g and there sat the women bewailing Tammuz.h 15He said to me, “Have you seen, O mortal? You shall see even more terrible abom-inations than these.”
16Then He brought me into the inner court of the House of the LORD, and there, at the entrance to the Temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men, their backs to the Temple of the LORD and their faces to the east; they were bowing low to the sun in the east. 17And He said to me, “Do you see, O mortal? Is it not enough for the House of Judah to practice the abominations that they have com-mitted here, that they must fill the country with lawlessness and provoke Me still further and i-thrust the branch to their nostrils?-i 18I in turn will act with fury, I will show no pity or compassion; though they cry aloud to Me, I will not listen to them.”
9 Then He called loudly in my hearing, saying, “Approach, you men in charge of the city, each bearing his weapons of destruction!” 2And six men entered by way of the upper gate that faces north, each with his club in his hand; and among them was another, clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. They came forward and stopped at the bronze altar. 3Now the Presence of the God of Israel had moved from the cherub on which it had rested to the platforma of the House. He called to the man clothed in linen with the writing case at his waist; 4and the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who moan and groan because of all the abomina-tions that are committed in it.” 5To the others He said in my hearing, “Follow him through the city and strike; show no pity or compassion. 6Kill off graybeard, youth and maiden, women and children; but do not touch any person who bears the mark. Begin here at My Sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the House. 7And He said to them, “Defile the House and fill the courts with the slain. Then go forth.” So they went forth and began to kill in the city. 8When they were out killing, and I remained alone, I flung myself on my face and cried out, “Ah, Lord GOD! Are you going to annihilate all that is left of Israel, pouring out Your fury upon Jerusalem?” 9He answered me, “The iniquity of the Houses of Judah and Israel is very very great, the land is full of crime and the city is full of corruption. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ 10I, in turn, will show no pity or compassion; I will give them their deserts.” 11And then the man clothed in linen with the writing case at his waist brought back word, saying, “I have done as You commanded me.”
10 I looked, and on the expanse over the heads of the cherubs, there was something like a sapphire stone; an appearance resembling a throne could be seen over them. 2He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Step inside the wheelwork, under the cherubs, and fill your hands with glowing coals from among the cherubs, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I looked on. 3Now the cherubs were standing on the south side of the House when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4But when the Presence of the LORD moved from the cherubs to the platforma of the House, the House was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the radiance of the Presence of the LORD. 5The sound of the cherubs’ wings could be heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of El Shaddaib when He speaks.
6When He commanded the man dressed in linen: “Take fire from among the cherubs within the wheelwork,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7And a cherub stretched out his hand among the cherubs to the fire that was among the cherubs; he took some and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8The cherubs ap-peared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9I could see that there were four wheels beside the cherubs, one wheel beside each of the cherubs; as for the appearance of the wheels, they gleamed like the beryl stone. 10In appearance, the four had the same form, as if there were two wheels cutting through each other. 11And when they moved, each could move in the direction of any of its four quarters; they did not veer as they moved. The [cherubs] moved in the direction in which one of the heads faced, without turning as they moved. 12Their entire bodies—backs, hands, and wings—and the wheels, the wheels of the four of them, were covered all over with eyes. 13It was these wheels that I had heard called “the wheelwork.”c 14Each one had four faces: One was a cherub’s face, the second a human face, the third a lion’s face, and the fourth an eagle’s face.
15The cherubs ascended; those were the creatures that I had seen by the Chebar Canal. 16Whenever the cherubs went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubs lifted their wings to ascend from the earth, the wheels did not roll away from their side. 17When those stood still, these stood still; and when those ascended, these ascended with them, for the spirit of the creature was in them.
18Then the Presence of the LORD left the platforma of the House and stopped above the cherubs. 19And I saw the cherubs lift their wings and rise from the earth, with the wheels beside them as they departed; and theyd stopped at the entrance of the eastern gate of the House of the LORD, with the Presence of the God of Israel above them. 20They were the same creatures that I had seen below the God of Israel at the Chebar Canal; so now I knew that they were cherubs.e 21Each one had four faces and each had four wings, with the form of human hands under the wings. 22As for the form of their faces, they were the very faces that I had seen by the Chebar Canal—their appearance and f-their features-f—and each could move in the direction of any of its faces.
11 Then a spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the House of the LORD, which faces eastward; and there, at the entrance of the gate, were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah,
