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 of Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

² On the fifth day of the month (which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity),

³ the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.

⁴ And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself; and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

⁵ Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

⁶ And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

⁷ And their feet were straight feet, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.

⁸ And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and all four had their faces and their wings.

⁹ Their wings were joined one to another. They turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, all four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side, and all four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

¹¹ Thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

¹² And they went every one straight forward; whither the spirit was to go, they went, and they turned not when they went.

¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire and like the appearance of lamps; it went up and down among the living creatures, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

¹⁴ And the living creatures ran and returned, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

¹⁵ Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, a wheel was upon the earth by each of the living creatures with his four faces.

¹⁶ The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness; and their appearance and their work was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

¹⁷ When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went.

¹⁸ As for their rims, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rims were full of eyes round about the four.

¹⁹ And 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.

²⁰ Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went; thither was their spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up opposite them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

²¹ When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up opposite them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

²² And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creatures was as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

²³ And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other; every one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side of their bodies.

²⁴ And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech as the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings;

²⁵ and there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads when they stood and had let down their wings.

²⁶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, with the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness in appearance of a man above upon it.

²⁷ And I saw as the color of amber, with the appearance of fire round about within it. From the appearance of His loins even upward and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

²⁸ As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of One who spoke.

2 And He said unto me, “Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.”

² And the Spirit entered into me when He spoke unto me, and set me upon my feet, so that I heard Him who spoke unto me.

³ And He said unto me, “Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me. They and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day;

⁴ for they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God.’

⁵ And they, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

⁶ “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee and thou dost dwell among scorpions. Be not afraid of their words nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

⁷ And thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious.

⁸ But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house. Open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee.”

⁹ And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and lo, a scroll of a book was therein.

¹⁰ And He spread it before me; and it was written within and without, and there were written therein lamentations and mourning and woe.

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

² For by it the elders obtained a good report.

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

⁴ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.

⁵ By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, “and was not found because God had translated him.” For before his translation he had this testimony: that he pleased God.

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should later receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

⁹ By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

¹² Therefore there sprang even from one, and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded by them and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they are seeking a fatherland.

¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a City.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called,”

¹⁹ accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence he also received him, in a figurative sense.