The People Worship Other Gods in the Temple
1It was the sixth year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house. The elders of Judah were sitting there with me. The power of the Lord and King came on me there. 2I looked up and saw a figure that appeared to be human. From his waist down he looked like fire. From his waist up he looked as bright as glowing metal. 3He reached out what appeared to be a hand. He took hold of me by the hair of my head. The Spirit of the Lord lifted me up between earth and heaven. In visions God gave me, the Spirit took me to Jerusalem. He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard. The statue of a god was standing there. It made God very angry. 4There in front of me was the glory of the God of Israel. It looked just as it did in the vision I had seen on the plain.
5Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I did. I saw a statue that made God angry. It was in the entrance of the gate north of the altar.
6He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the Israelites are doing here? They are doing things I hate very much. Those things will cause me to go far away from my temple. But you will see things I hate even more.”
7Then he brought me to the entrance to the courtyard. I looked up and saw a hole in the wall. 8He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I did. And I saw a door there.
9He continued, “Go through it. Look at the evil things they are doing here. I hate those things.” 10So I went in and looked. All over the walls were pictures of all kinds of crawling things and “unclean” animals. The Lord hates it when people worship those things. There were also carvings of the gods of the people of Israel. 11In front of them stood 70 elders of Israel. Jaazaniah was standing there among them. He is the son of Shaphan. Each elder was holding a shallow cup. A sweet-smelling cloud of incense was rising from the cups.
12The Lord spoke to me. He said, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of Israel are doing in the dark? Each of them is in his own room worshiping his own god. They say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us. He has deserted the land.’ ” 13He continued, “You will see them doing things I hate even more.”
14Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I saw women sitting there. They were mourning for the god named Tammuz. 15The Lord said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? You will see things I hate even more.”
16Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house. About 25 men were there. They were at the entrance to the Lord’s temple between the porch and the altar. Their backs were turned toward the temple. Their faces were turned toward the east. And they were bowing down to the sun.
17He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen all of this? The people of Judah are doing things here that I hate. This is a very serious matter. They are harming one another all through the land. They continue to make me very angry. Just look at them making fun of me! 18So I am angry with them. I will punish them. I will not spare them or feel sorry for them. They might even shout in my ears. But I will not listen to them.”
圣城中的可憎之事
1第六年六月五日，我正在家中与犹大的众长老同坐，主耶和华的能力降在我身上。 2我观看，只见有一位形状像人，祂的腰部以下像火，腰部以上像闪亮的金属。 3祂好像伸出一只手，抓住我的头发。在异象中，灵把我举到天地之间，将我带到耶路撒冷圣殿内院的北门，那里供奉着惹耶和华愤恨的神像。 4我忽然看见那里有以色列上帝的荣耀，跟我在平原所见的一样。
5祂对我说：“人子啊，你举目北望。”于是，我举目朝北一望，见在祭坛门的北面有惹耶和华愤恨的神像。 6祂又对我说：“人子啊，你看见以色列人的所作所为了吗？他们在这里行那些极其可憎的事，以致我远离我的圣所。你会看到更可憎的事。”
7祂带我到院子的门口，我看见墙上有一个洞。 8祂对我说：“人子啊，你挖这墙。”我挖开墙后，看见一道门。 9祂对我说：“你进去看看他们在这里做的邪恶可憎的事吧。” 10我进去后，看见四周的墙上画满了各种爬虫、可憎的兽类和以色列人拜的神像。 11神像前面站着以色列的七十个长老，沙番的儿子雅撒尼亚也在当中，他们每人手中都拿着香炉，烟雾缭绕。 12祂又对我说：“人子啊，你看见以色列的长老在自己藏神像的房间里暗中所做的了吗？他们说，‘耶和华看不见我们，祂已经抛弃了这片土地。’” 13祂继续说：“你会看到他们做更可憎的事。”
14祂带我来到耶和华的殿外院的北门，看见一些妇女坐在那里为搭模斯神像哭泣。 15祂对我说：“人子啊，你看见了吗？你会看到更可憎的事。”
16祂带我来到耶和华殿的内院，在殿门口，走廊和祭坛中间约有二十五个人背向耶和华的殿，面向东方朝拜太阳。 17祂又对我说：“人子啊，你看见了吗？犹大人的这些可憎行径还算小事吗？他们到处行残暴之事，再三惹我发怒，手拿树枝举向鼻前祭拜偶像。 18因此，我必愤怒地对待他们，我必不顾惜他们，也不怜悯他们，即使他们大声向我呼求，我也不听。”
