Ezekiel 1

The Living Creatures and the Glory of the LORD

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
2 On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—

3 the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was upon him.
4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man,6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.8 Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings,

9 and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body.12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.

14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went.

18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome.23 Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body.

24 When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty,like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
25 Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.26 Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.

28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

EZEKIEL 1

Ezekiel Sees the [Lord]'s Glory

1-3  t I am Ezekiel—a priest and the son of Buzi.t
Five years after King Jehoiachin of Judah had been led away as a prisoner to Babylonia, I was living near the Chebar River among those who had been taken there with him. Then on the fifth day of the fourth montht of the thirtieth year, t the heavens suddenly opened. The [Lord] placed his hand upon met and showed me some visions.
4 I saw a windstorm blowing in from the north. Lightning flashed from a huge cloud and lit up the whole sky with a dazzling brightness. The fiery center of the cloud was as shiny as polished metal, 5 t and in that center I saw what looked like four living creatures. They were somewhat like humans, 6 except that each one had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, but their feet looked like the hoofs of calves and sparkled like bronze. 8 Under each of their wings, these creatures had a human hand.

9 The four creatures were standing back to back with the tips of their wings touching. They moved together in every direction, without turning their bodies.
10  t Each creature had the face of a human in front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of a bull on the left, and the face of an eagle in back.

11 Two wingst of each creature were spread out and touched the wings of the creatures on either side. The other two wings of each creature were folded against its body.
12 The four living creatures went wherever the Spirit led them, and they moved together without turning their bodies, because each creature faced straight ahead. 13 t The creatures were glowing like hot coals, and I saw something like a flaming torch moving back and forth among them. Lightning flashed from the torch every time its flame blazed up.t

14 The creatures themselves moved as quickly as sparks jumping from a fire.t
15  t I then noticed that on the ground beside each of the four living creatures was a wheel, t 16 shining like chrysolite.t Each wheel was exactly the same and had a second wheel that cut through the middle of it, t 17 so that they could move in any direction without turning. 18 t The rims of the wheels were large and frightening, and they had eyes all the way around them.t

19-21 The creatures controlled when and where the wheels moved—the wheels went wherever the four creatures went and stopped whenever they stopped. Even when the creatures flew in the air, the wheels were beside them.
22-23  t Above the living creatures, I saw something that was sparkling like ice, and it reminded me of a dome. Each creature had two of its wings stretched out toward the creatures on either side, with the other two wings folded against its body.

24 t Whenever the creatures flew, their wings roared like an ocean or a large army or even the voice of God All-Powerful. And whenever the creatures stopped, they folded their wings against their bodies.
25 When the creatures stopped flapping their wings, I heard a sound coming from above the dome. 26 t I then saw what looked like a throne made of sapphire, t and sitting on the throne was a figure in the shape of a human. 27 t From the waist up, it was glowing like metal in a hot furnace, and from the waist down it looked like the flames of a fire. The figure was surrounded by a bright light,

28 as colorful as a rainbow that appears after a storm.
I realized I was seeing the brightness of the [Lord]'s glory! So I bowed with my face to the ground, and just then I heard a voice speaking to me.