For it was the stumbling-block of their iniquity.

20 For the beauty of their ornaments they turned into pride,

And the images of their abominations and of their detestable things they made with it;

Therefore will I make it to them as an unclean thing. 21 And I will give it into the hands of strangers for a

prey,

And to the wicked of the earth for a spoil,
And they shall pollute it.

22 And I will turn my face from them,

23

So that my secret place shall be polluted;
Robbers shall enter into it, and pollute it.

Make a chain !

For the land is full of blood-guiltiness,

And the city is full of violence.

24 Therefore will I bring the most cruel among the na

tions,

And they shall possess your houses;

I will also make the pride of the strong to cease,

And their holy places shall be defiled.

25 Destruction cometh;

And they shall seek peace, and not find it.

26 Calamity shall come upon calamity,

And rumor shall be upon rumor;

And they shall seek a vision from the prophet in vain ; Instruction shall perish from the priests,

And counsel from the elders.

27 The king shall mourn,

And the prince shall be clothed with amazement;

And the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled.

I will do to them according to their way, and accord

ing to their deserts will I judge them, And they shall know that I am Jehovah.

IV.

Visions relating to the guilt and the punishment of Jerusalem.— CH. VIII.

XI.

1 Now it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the 2 hand of the Lord, Jehovah, fell there upon me. And I looked, and lo, a form, having the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins downward, of fire; and from his loins upward, of a bright light, like the 3 splendor of shining brass. And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my 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 stood the idol of jealousy, which pro4 voketh to jealousy. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I saw in the plain.

5

Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes toward the north! And I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, northward from the gate of the 6 altar was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. And

he said to me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? Great are the abominations, which the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary. But thou shalt yet again see great abominations.

7 And he brought me to the door of the 8 looked, and behold, a hole in the wall.

court, and I

And he said.

to me, Son of man, break now through the wall! And when I had broken through the wall, behold, a door. 9 And he said to me, Go in, and behold the wicked 10 abominations, which they practise here! So I went in

and saw, and behold, every form of creeping things, and of abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing in the midst of them, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense 12 went up. Then said he to me, Son of man, seest thou what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each one in his image-chamber? For they say, "Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.” 13 And he said to me, Thou shalt yet again see the great abominations, which they practise.

14

Then he brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of Jehovah, which was toward the north, and behold, there sat women, weeping for Thammuz. 15 And he said to me, Seest thou this, O son of man? Thou shalt yet again see greater abominations than these.

16

And he brought me into the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and behold, at the entrance of the temple

of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they bowed themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 And he said to me, Seest thou, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah, that they commit the abominations, which they commit here, that they fill the land with violence, and continually provoke me to anger? And behold, they put the branch to their 18 nostrils. Therefore will I also deal with them 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.

And

1 He cried also, in my hearing, with a loud voice, saying; Bring ye near the punishments of the city, every one his weapon of destruction in his hand. 2 lo, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which looketh toward the north, every one with his slaughterweapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's ink-horn by his side; and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. 3 And the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, upon which it was, to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed with linen, 4 who had the writer's ink-horn by his side; and Jehovah said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men, that sigh and that wail for all the 5 abominations, that are done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said, in my hearing, Go ye after him through, the city, and smite! let not your eyes spare, • neither have ye pity! The old man, the youth, the virgin, little children and women, slay and destroy; but

come not near any one, upon whom is the mark! and begin at my sanctuary!

Then began they at the elders, that were before the 7 house. And he said to them, Pollute the house, and

fill the courts with the slain, then go ye forth! And they went forth, and slew in the city. And while they were smiting them, I alone was left; and I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah, Lord, Jehovah! Wilt thou destroy all the remnant of Israel, while thou pourest 9 out thy fury upon Jerusalem ? And he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness. For they say, "Jehovah hath forsaken the land; and "Jehovah seeth not." 10 Therefore mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. Their way will I recompense upon their head. 11 And lo, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, returned answer, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

1

Then I looked, and lo, in the firmament, that was above the head of the cherubs, there appeared over them, as it were, a sapphire-stone, in form like a throne; 2 and He spake to the man, that was clothed with linen, and said; Go in between the wheels under the cherub, and fill thy hands with coals of fire, which are between the cherubs, and scatter them over the city! 3 And he went in before mine eyes. Now the cherubs stood upon the right side of the house, when the man 4 went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. And the glory of Jehovah was lifted up from the cherub to the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the bright