¹⁸ and refined gold by weight for the ^(A)altar of incense, and for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold ^(B)cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰ And ^(A)the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. ^21 (B)You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and ^(C)in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. ²² And ^(D)there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from ^(E)between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

The Altar of Incense^(A)

30 “You shall make ^(B)an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. ² A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ³ And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a ^[a]molding of gold all around. ⁴ Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. ⁵ You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ⁶ And you shall put it before the ^(C)veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the ^(D)mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁷ “Aaron shall burn on it ^(E)sweet incense every morning; when ^(F)he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. ⁸ And when Aaron lights the lamps ^[b]at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. ⁹ You shall not offer ^(G)strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. ¹⁰ And ^(H)Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”

⁵ and ^(A)above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

^2 (A)Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with ^(B)coals of fire from among the cherubim, and ^(C)scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched.

³ Now the cherubim were standing on the ^[a]south side of the ^[b]temple when the man went in, and the ^(D)cloud filled the inner court. ^4 (E)Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the ^[c]temple; and ^(F)the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s ^(G)glory. ⁵ And the ^(H)sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like ^(I)the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.

⁶ Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” that he went in and stood beside the wheels. ⁷ And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out. ^8 (J)The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

^9 (K)And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a ^(L)beryl stone. ¹⁰ As for their appearance, all four looked alike—as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. ^11 (M)When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went. ¹² And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were ^(N)full of eyes all around. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my ^[d]hearing, “Wheel.”

^14 (O)Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. ¹⁵ And the cherubim were lifted up. This was ^(P)the living creature I saw by the River Chebar. ^16 (Q)When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them. ^17 (R)When ^[e]the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when ^[f]one was lifted up, ^[g]the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

¹⁸ Then ^(S)the glory of the Lord ^(T)departed from the threshold of the ^[h]temple and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹ And ^(U)the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the ^(V)east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

^20 (W)This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel ^(X)by the River Chebar, and I knew they were cherubim. ^21 (Y)Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. ²² And ^(Z)the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their appearance and their persons. ^(AA)They each went straight forward.

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, ^(A)a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. ^16 (B)The appearance of the wheels and their workings was ^(C)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. ¹⁷ When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. ¹⁸ As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were ^(D)full of eyes, all around the four of them. ^19 (E)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 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, ^(F)for the spirit of the ^[a]living creatures was in the wheels. 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 ^[b]living creatures was in the wheels.

^22 (G)The likeness of the ^[c]firmament above the heads of the ^[d]living creatures was like the color of an awesome ^(H)crystal, stretched out ^(I)over their heads. 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. ^24 (J)When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, ^(K)like the noise of many waters, like ^(L)the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.

Praise to the Lord for His Holiness

Prayer for Israel’s Restoration

To the Chief Musician. ^(A)Set to ^[a]“The Lilies.” A ^[b]Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.