1:1 | Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], on the fifth [day] of the month, as I [was] among the captives by the River Chebar, [that] the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. |
1:2 | On the fifth [day] of the month, which [was] in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, |
1:3 | the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there. |
1:4 | Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness [was] all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. |
1:5 | Also from within it [came] the likeness of four living creatures. And this [was] their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. |
1:6 | Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. |
1:7 | Their legs [were] straight, and the soles of their feet [were] like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. |
1:8 | The hands of a man [were] under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. |
1:9 | Their wings touched one another. [The creatures] did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward. |
1:10 | As for the likeness of their faces, [each] had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. |
1:11 | Thus [were] their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two [wings] of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. |
1:12 | And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went. |
1:13 | As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. |
1:14 | And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning. |
1:15 | Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel [was] on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. |
1:16 | The appearance of the wheels and their workings [was] like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings [was], as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. |
1:17 | When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. |
1:18 | As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims [were] full of eyes, all around the four of them. |
1:19 | When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. |
1:20 | Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, [because] there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures [was] in the wheels. |
1:21 | When those went, [these] went; when those stood, [these] stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures [was] in the wheels. |
1:22 | The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures [was] like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. |
1:23 | And under the firmament their wings [spread out] straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. |
1:24 | When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. |
1:25 | A voice came from above the firmament that [was] over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings. |
1:26 | And above the firmament over their heads [was] the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne [was] a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. |
1:27 | Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. |
1:28 | Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so [was] the appearance of the brightness all around it. This [was] the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw [it], I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. |