The most sacred Bible, whiche is the Holy Scripture conteyning the Old and New Testament / translated into English, and newly recognised with great diligence after most faythful exemplars, by Rychard Taverner.

¶ An apperaunce of the similitude of God. Eze∣chiel is brought vnto Ierusalem in the sprete. The Lorde sheweth the Prophete the Idolatries of the house of Israel, and chefely of the prestes.

CAPI. VIII.

IT happened that in the sixte yere, the fifte daye of the sixte moneth I sat in my house [ A] and the Lordes of the counsel of Iuda with me: and the hande of the Lorde God fell e∣uen there vpon me.

And as I loked vp, I saw as it were a lyke∣nesse of fire from his loynes downeward, and and from his loynes vpwarde it shyned mar∣ueylous clere. This similitude stretched oute an hande, and toke me by the heery lockes of [ B] my heed, and the spirite lyfte me vp betwixt heuen and earthe: and God broughte me in a vysyon to Ierusalem, in to the entrye of the inner porte that lyeth towarde the north: there stode an ymage, with whome he that hathe all thynges in his power, was verye wrothe.

And beholde, the glorye of the God of Is∣rael was in the same place: euen as I hadde sene it afore in the felde. And he said vnto me: Thou sonne of man. O lyfte vp thyne eyes, and loke towarde the north. Then lyfte I vp [ C] myne eyes towarde the north: and beholde,

besyde the port northward, there was an aul∣ter, made vnto the ymage of prouocacion in the very entryng in. And he sayd furthermore vnto me: Thou son of man, seist thou what these do? Seist thou the great abhominacions that the house of Israel commit in this place which ought not to be done in my Sanctuary? But turne the aboute, and thou shalte se yet greater abhominacions. And with y^t brought he me to the court gate: and when I loked: [ D] beholde, there was an hole in the wal. Then sayd he vnto me: thou sonne of man, dygge thorowe the wall. And when I dygged tho∣rowe the wall: beholde, there was a doore. And he sayd vnto me: Go thy waye in, and loke what wycked abhominacions they doo there. So I went in and sawe: and beholde, there were all maner ymages of wormes and beestes, al ydolles and abhominacions of the house of Israell paynted euery one rounde a∣boute the wall.

There stode also before the ymages thre score and ten lordes of the counsel of y^e house of Israel: and in the myddest of them stode Iaazaniah the sonne of Saphan: And euery one of them had a censoure in his hande, and oute of the incense there wente a smoke, as it hadde ben a cloude. Then sayd he vnto me: Thou sonne of man, hast thou sene what the [ E] senatours of the house of Israel do secretly, euery one in his chambre? For they say: tush the Lorde seeth vs not, the Lorde regardeth not the worlde. And he said vnto me: Turne the yet agayne, and thou shalte se the greate abhominacions that they do. And with that he brought me to the dore of the porte of the Lordes house towarde the north. And behold there sate women mournynge for Thamus. Then sayde he vnto me: haste thou sene this thou sonne of man? Turne the about, & thou shalt se yet greater abhominacions.

[ F] And so he broughte me in to the inwarde courte of the Lordes house: & beholde at the porte of the Lordes house, bitwixte the fore entrye and the aulter, there were fyue and twentye men, that tourned theyr backes vpon the temple of the Lorde, and theyr fa∣te•• towarde the East, and these worshypped the sonne.

And he sayd vnto me: hast thou sene this y^e [ G] sonne of man? Thynketh the house of Israel that it is but a trysle, to do the se abhomina∣cions here? Shoulde they fyll the lande full of wyckednesse, and vndertake to prouoke me vnto vnger? Yea and purposely to caste vp their noses vpon me? Therfore wyll I also do some thynge in my wrothfull displea¦sure, so that myne eye shall not ouer se them, neyther wyll I spare them. Yea and though they crye in myne eares with loude voyce, yet wyll I not heare them.

Notes

• Daniel .x••.