The Vision of Four Living Creatures

1 Now it happened in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the ^(A)river Chebar among the exiles, that the ^(B)heavens were opened, and I saw ^[a](C)visions of God. ² (On the fifth of the month ^[b]in the ^(D)fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, ³ the ^(E)word of ^[c]Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the ^(F)land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there ^(G)the hand of Yahweh came upon him.)

⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a ^(H)storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light all around it, and in its midst something like the gleam of ^(I)glowing metal in the midst of the fire. ⁵ And within it there were figures with the likeness of ^(J)four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the ^(K)likeness of a man. ⁶ And each of them had ^(L)four faces and ^(M)four wings. ⁷ And their legs were straight, and ^[d]their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like the gleam of ^(N)burnished bronze. ⁸ And under their wings on their ^(O)four sides were ^(P)hands of a man. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, ⁹ their wings touched one another; their faces did ^(Q)not turn as they went; each ^(R)went straight forward. ¹⁰ And as for the ^(S)likeness of their faces, each had the ^(T)face of a man; ^[e]all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and ^[f]all four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ And such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and ^(U)two covering their bodies. ¹² And ^(V)each went straight forward; ^(W)wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. ^13 [g]As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of ^(X)fire, ^[h]like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was ^[i]flashing from the fire. ¹⁴ And the living creatures ^(Y)ran to and fro with the appearance of ^(Z)lightning.

¹⁵ Then I looked at the living creatures, and behold, there was one ^(AA)wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, ^[j]for each of the four of them. ¹⁶ The ^(AB)appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of ^(AC)beryl, and all four of them had the same likeness, their appearance and workmanship being as if ^[k]one wheel were within another. ¹⁷ Whenever they went, they went in any of their four ^[l]directions without ^(AD)turning as they went. ¹⁸ And as for their rims, they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were ^(AE)full of eyes all around. ^19 (AF)And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures ^(AG)rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. ^20 (AH)Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction, ^[m]where the spirit was about to go. And the wheels rose alongside of them; for the spirit of the living ^[n]creatures was in the wheels. ^21 (AI)Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living ^[o]creatures was in the wheels.

The Vision of the Glory of Yahweh

²² Now ^(AJ)over the heads of the living ^[p]creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of ^[q]crystal, spread out over their heads above. ²³ And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had ^(AK)two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. ²⁴ I also heard the sound of their wings like the ^(AL)sound of many waters as they went, like the ^[r](AM)sound of ^[s]the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the ^(AN)sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. ²⁵ And there came a sound from above the ^(AO)expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

²⁶ Now ^(AP)above the expanse that was over their heads there was something in the ^(AQ)likeness of a throne, like ^(AR)sapphire stone in appearance; and upon the likeness of the throne, high up, was the likeness of one with the appearance of a ^(AS)man. ²⁷ Then I saw from the appearance of His loins and upward something ^(AT)like the gleam of ^[t]glowing metal with the appearance of fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something with the appearance of fire; and there was a radiance all around Him. ²⁸ As the appearance of the ^(AU)rainbow ^[u]in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the ^(AV)glory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I ^(AW)fell on my face and heard a sound of a voice speaking.