²⁰ These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River,^(A) and I realized that they were cherubim.

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision

1 In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles^(A) by the Kebar River,^(B) the heavens were opened^(C) and I saw visions^(D) of God.

¹⁵ Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures^(A) I had seen by the Kebar River.^(B)

²³ So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,^(A) and I fell facedown.^(B)

²² Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault,^(A) sparkling like crystal, and awesome. ²³ Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. ²⁴ When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing^(B) waters, like the voice^(C) of the Almighty,^[a] like the tumult of an army.^(D) When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵ Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶ Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne^(E) of lapis lazuli,^(F) and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.^{(G) 27} 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.^{(H) 28} Like the appearance of a rainbow^(I) in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.^(J)

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory^(K) of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown,^(L) and I heard the voice of one speaking.

⁵ and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.^(A) In appearance their form was human,^(B)

³⁶ He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around.

²⁹ On the walls^(A) all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim,^(B) palm trees and open flowers. ³⁰ He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

³¹ For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. ³² And on the two olive-wood doors^(C) he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. ³³ In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. ³⁴ He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.