Ezekiel
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.
- On the fifth of the month -- it was the
fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin --
- 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.
- 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,
- and in the fire was what looked like four
living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man,
- but each of them had four faces and four
wings.
- Their legs were straight; their feet were
like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.
- Under their wings on their four sides they
had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings,
- and their wings touched one another. Each
one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
- 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.
- 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.
- Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the
spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.
- 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.
- The creatures sped back and forth like flashes
of lightning.
- As I looked at the living creatures, I saw
a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.
- 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.
- 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.
- Their rims were high and awesome, and all
four rims were full of eyes all around.
- When the living creatures moved, the wheels
beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the
wheels also rose.
- 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.
- 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.
- Spread out above the heads of the living
creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome.
- Under the expanse their wings were stretched
out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body.
- 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.
- Then there came a voice from above the expanse
over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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