Ezekiel 1
Christian Standard Bible
1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, while I was among the exiles by the Chebar Canal,(A) the heavens were opened(B) and I saw visions of God.(C)
2 On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile(D)— 3 the word of the Lord came(E) directly to the priest Ezekiel(F) son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans(G) by the Chebar Canal. The Lord’s hand was on him there.(H)
Vision of the Lord’s Glory
4 I looked, and there was a whirlwind(I) coming from the north, a huge cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber.(J) 5 The likeness of four living creatures came from it,(K) and this was their appearance: They looked something like a human, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, sparkling like the gleam of polished bronze.(L) 8 They had human hands under their wings on their four sides.(M) All four of them had faces and wings.(N) 9 Their wings were touching. The creatures did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.(O) 10 Their faces looked something like the face of a human,(P) and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle.(Q) 11 That is what their faces were like. Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching that of another and two wings covering its body.(R) 12 Each creature went straight ahead.(S) Wherever the Spirit[a] wanted to go, they went without turning as they moved.(T)
13 The likeness of the living creatures was like the appearance of blazing coals of fire or like torches.(U) Fire was moving back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, with lightning coming out of it. 14 The creatures were darting back and forth(V) like flashes of lightning.(W)
15 When I looked at the living creatures, there was one wheel on the ground beside each of the four-faced creatures. 16 The appearance of the wheels(X) and their craftsmanship was like the gleam of beryl,(Y) and all four had the same likeness. Their appearance and craftsmanship was like a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved. 18 Their four rims were tall and awe-inspiring, completely covered with eyes.(Z) 19 When the living creatures moved,(AA) the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, the creatures went in the direction the Spirit was moving. The wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 Over the heads of the living creatures(AB) the likeness of an expanse(AC) was spread out. It gleamed like awe-inspiring crystal,(AD) 23 and under the expanse their wings extended one toward another. They each also had two wings covering their bodies. 24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of a huge torrent,(AE) like the voice of the Almighty,(AF) and a sound of tumult like the noise of an army.(AG) When they stopped, they lowered their wings.
25 A voice came from above the expanse over their heads; when they stopped, they lowered their wings. 26 Something like a throne with the appearance of lapis lazuli was above the expanse over their heads.(AH) On the throne, high above, was someone who looked like a human.(AI) 27 From what seemed to be his waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire enclosing it all around.(AJ) From what seemed to be his waist down, I also saw what looked like fire. There was a brilliant light all around him. 28 The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day.(AK) This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lord’s glory.(AL) When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.(AM)
Footnotes
- 1:12 Or spirit, also in v. 20
Ezekiel 1
New Catholic Bible
Call of the Prophet[a]
Chapter 1
The Vision of Four Living Creatures.[b] 1 [c]In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions. 2 On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— 3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar. There the hand of the Lord was upon him.
4 [d]As I looked, I beheld a stormy wind coming from the north: an immense cloud with flashing fire and a brilliant light surrounding it. In the middle of the fire there was something that looked like gleaming amber.[e] 5 Within it, there seemed to be four living creatures with human forms.[f] 6 Each had four faces; each had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hooves like those of a calf, sparkling with a gleam like that of burnished bronze.
8 Below their wings, they had human hands on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. 9 They touched one another with their wings. They did not turn as they moved; each of them moved straight ahead.
10 As for their faces, each of the four had the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle. 11 Their wings were spread upward. Each creature had one wing touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the Spirit wished them to go, they would do so; they never turned as they moved.
13 In the middle of the living creatures was what appeared to be burning coals of fire, like torches darting to and fro between the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning issued forth from the fire. 14 The living creatures kept disappearing and reappearing like flashes of lightning.
15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each of the four living creatures. 16 As for the appearance and the structure of the wheels, they all held the appearance of sparkling chrysolites, and all four of them looked alike; they were so constructed that each wheel appeared to have another wheel inside it. 17 They could move in any of the four directions they faced, without veering as they moved.
18 The four of them had rims that were awesome in their size, and those rims were filled with eyes all around. 19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose with them. 20 They moved in whatever direction the Spirit wished to go, and the wheels rose with them, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, the wheels also moved. When the creatures stood still, the wheels also stood still. When the creatures left the ground, the wheels also left the ground, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 Over the heads of the living creatures, there was what appeared to be a firmament, glittering like crystal and spread out over their heads. 23 Beneath the firmament, their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each of the creatures had two wings covering its body. 24 I also heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound was like the noise emanating from an armed camp. And when they stood still, they lowered their wings.[g]
25 And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26 Above the dome over their heads there was something like a sapphire in the form of a throne, and seated high above the likeness of a throne there was a form with the appearance of a man.
27 Upward from what resembled his waist I beheld what looked like fire that gave forth a brilliant light all around. 28 The radiance of the encircling light was like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I beheld it, I prostrated myself on the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 1:1 Ezekiel, a priest of Jerusalem, is torn away from the temple and the worship that he loves, and joins the caravan of deportees whom Nebuchadnezzar drags off to Babylon after the first capitulation of Jerusalem in 598 B.C. At this time, Ezekiel is a contemporary of Jeremiah and has insight into the evils that are coming. The prophet denounces the infidelity of the people. Moreover, he cannot accept any longer the ancient idea of collective responsibility. He seeks rather to point out the personal responsibility of each individual.
- Ezekiel 1:1 During a vision that reminds us of the prophet Isaiah’s vision (Isa 6:1-13), Ezekiel, the poor “son of man,” is abruptly placed in the presence of the glory of the Lord. He suddenly understands the holiness of the God who seeks his people, even in exile, there on the banks of the Kebar. He understands, too, the tragic fate of this people whose sin can be removed only by being burned in fire (Deut 4:24; Isa 33:14; Heb 12:29).
- Ezekiel 1:1 We are introduced to an amazing narrative that is difficult to read because numerous additions have been made to the original version, either by the prophet himself or by one of his disciples. This can be seen even in these first three verses. Kebar is a wide, navigable canal of water leading from the Euphrates in Babylonia.
- Ezekiel 1:4 The prophet Isaiah had had the same vision, but his took place in the temple of Jerusalem (Isa 6). Ezekiel’s comes to him in the midst of pagan Babylonia. The vision comes from the north. It was from the north that the refugees had come: they left Palestine, skirted the Desert of Syria, and followed the Fertile Crescent. The “glory” of the Lord is no longer in the Jerusalem temple—and it is a priest who says so! Surrounding this glory of God as he comes are fantastic beings, represented in images taken from Babylonian art. The text adds details without restraint in order to show that God is present everywhere; the wheels, which are decorated with motifs using eyes, symbolize the Lord who sees and knows everything. These beings form a throne, as it were, for the glory of God. So great is the distance between God and human beings that the prophet does not have words to suggest the ineffable divine reality, but he nonetheless asserts its presence.
- Ezekiel 1:4 Amber: electron, a naturally occurring alloy of four-fifths gold and one-fifth silver, and amber in color; it is from amber that the Greek name is derived.
- Ezekiel 1:5 The four living beings are imagined as Assyro-Babylonian cherubim, who are regarded as servants of the various divinities and placed as guardians before temples and palaces.
- Ezekiel 1:24 The picture which Ezekiel paints fits in with the way in which the throne of God appears to Moses (Ex 24:10). The same images will be used in the Apocalypse (Ezek 4:2f).
Ezechiël 1
Het Boek
Het visioen van de levende wezens
1 1-3 Op de vijfde dag van de vierde maand van het dertigste jaar ging voor mij, Ezechiël, priester en zoon van Buzi, plotseling de hemel open en zag ik visioenen van God. Dat was in het vijfde jaar van de ballingschap in Babel, ik was toen bij de Joodse ballingen aan de rivier de Kebar in Babylonië. Ik werd door de macht van de Here overweldigd.
4 Ik zag in dit visioen een zware storm uit het noorden op mij afkomen en die storm dreef een enorme wolk voor zich uit. Rond deze wolk schitterde een helle lichtglans, een vlammend vuur en daar middenin was iets dat blonk als goud. 5 Toen verschenen uit het midden van de wolk vier wezens die er uitzagen als mensen, 6 afgezien van het feit dat elk wezen vier gezichten en twee paar vleugels had! 7 Zij hadden rechte benen en hun voeten leken op de hoeven van een kalf en zij fonkelden als gepolijst koper. 8,9 Onder elk van hun vleugels kon ik mensenhanden onderscheiden. De vier levende wezens waren met de vleugels aan elkaar verbonden en vlogen recht vooruit, zonder zich om te draaien. 10 Elk had van voren het gezicht van een mens, aan de rechterkant een gezicht als een leeuw, aan de linkerkant het gezicht van een stier en leek van de achterkant op een arend! 11 Ieder had twee paar vleugels op het midden van de rug. Eén paar was verbonden met de vleugels van de wezens naast hem, het andere paar bedekte zijn lichaam. 12 Elk van de wezens bewoog zich recht vooruit, waarheen de Geest van God hen ook maar dreef, en ze hoefden zich, waarheen ze ook gingen, niet om te draaien. 13 Ze leken op iets dat eruitzag als brandende kolen en felle fakkels. Er ging vuur heen en weer tussen de wezens, waaruit bliksemstralen te voorschijn schoten. 14 Deze wezens snelden heen en weer, bliksemsnel.
15 Terwijl ik hiernaar stond te kijken, zag ik vier wielen naast hen op de grond, één wiel bij elk wezen. 16 De wielen glansden als een turkoois en hadden allemaal dezelfde vorm. Elk wiel bevatte een tweede wiel, dat kruiselings op het grote wiel stond. 17 Zij konden in alle richtingen bewegen zonder van stand te veranderen. 18 De vier wielen hadden prachtige indrukwekkende velgen en de randen van de velgen waren bezet met ogen. 19-21 Wanneer de vier levende wezens vooruit vlogen, gingen de wielen met hen mee. Als zij omhoog vlogen, gingen de wielen ook omhoog en als zij halt hielden, stonden ook de wielen stil. Een en dezelfde geest leidde de wezens en de wielen.
22 Boven de hoofden van de wezens was iets dat er uitzag als een strakke hemel van verblindend kristal die zich boven hen uitstrekte. Onbeschrijflijk mooi! 23 De vleugels van elk wezen strekten zich uit om de vleugels van de andere wezens aan te raken en elk van hen had twee vleugels, waarmee hij zijn lichaam bedekte. 24,25 En als zij vlogen, maakten hun vleugels een geluid dat leek op golven die zich op de kust werpen of op de stem van de Almachtige of op het dreunen van een oprukkend leger. Als zij stil stonden, vouwden ze hun vleugels weer. Opeens klonk er een stem uit de kristallen hemel die zich boven hen uitstrekte.
26 Want hoog daar boven stond iets dat leek op een troon, gemaakt van saffiersteen. En op die troon zat een gestalte die er als een mens uitzag. 27,28 Boven zijn middel glansde zijn lichaam als wit goud, flakkerend als vuur. Onder zijn middel leek hij uit vlammen te bestaan en een stralenkrans van licht omlijnde zijn lichaam. De schittering van die krans had iets weg van een regenboog in de wolken bij regenachtig weer. Zo zag de verschijning van de heerlijkheid van de Here eruit. Toen ik dit zag, liet ik mij met mijn gezicht naar beneden op de grond vallen. Op dat moment hoorde ik de stem van Iemand die tegen mij sprak.
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