11 Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood before them. In the middle of them Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood, every man with his censer in his hand; and the smell of the cloud of incense went up.
12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘the Lord doesn’t see us. the Lord has forsaken the land.’”
13 He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.”
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”
16 He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and I saw at the door of the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the Lord’s temple, and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger. Behold, they put the branch to their nose.