Ezekiel 1
Lexham English Bible
Date of Vision of Living Creatures and Glory of the Throne of Yahweh
1 And it was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, and I was in the midst of[a] the exiles[b] by the Kebar River.[c] The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of the king Jehoiachin— 3 the word of Yahweh came[d] clearly[e] to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans at the Kebar River,[f] and the hand of Yahweh was on him there.
4 And I looked,[g] and look! A storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around and within it,[h] and from its midst[i] it was like the outward appearance of amber stone from the midst[j] of the fire. 5 And from its midst[k] was the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance: a human form,[l] 6 and each had four faces,[m] and each of them had four wings.[n] 7 And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of the foot of a calf, and they were sparkling like the outward appearance of polished bronze. 8 And under their wings were human hands[o] on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them were as follows: 9 their wings were touching one another;[p] each of them went straight forward,[q] without turning right or left.[r] 10 The likeness of their faces was the face of a human in front, and the face of a lion on the right of each of them,[s] and the face of an ox on the left of each of them,[t] and the face of an eagle for each of them.[u] 11 So were their faces; their wings were spread out upward;[v] each had two touching one another and two covering their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward;[w] wherever the spirit went[x] they went, and they did not turn as they went.[y] 13 As for[z] the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It[aa] was moving to and fro between the living creatures, and the fire was very bright[ab] and lightning was going out from the fire. 14 And the living creatures were speeding to and fro[ac] like the appearance of lightning.
15 And I saw the living creatures, and look! A wheel was on the earth[ad] beside each of the living creatures that had four faces.[ae] 16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the appearance of beryl,[af] and they all looked alike,[ag] and their appearance and their construction was like a wheel within a wheel.[ah] 17 When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not veer at all as they went.[ai] 18 And their rims were high and awesome,[aj] and all four of[ak] their rims were full of eyes all around. 19 And at the going of the living creatures, the wheels next to them also went, and when the creatures were lifted from the ground[al] the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever[am] the spirit went they would go there, and the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures[an] was in the wheels. 21 At their[ao] going, they[ap] go, and at their standing, they stood, and at their being lifted up from on the earth,[aq] the wheels rose,[ar] for the spirit of the living creatures[as] was in the wheels.
22 Now[at] the likeness above the heads of the living creatures was an expanse like the outward appearance of awesome[au] ice[av] spread out above their heads upward.[aw] 23 And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight one toward the other;[ax] each had two wings covering them, and each had two wings covering their bodies. 24 And I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai,[ay] and when they moved[az] there was a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stood still[ba] they lowered their wings. 25 And there was[bb] a sound from above the expanse that was above their heads, and when they stood[bc] they lowered their wings. 26 And from above the expanse that was above their heads there was the likeness of a throne, looking like a sapphire,[bd] and above the likeness of the throne was a likeness similar to[be] the appearance of a human on it, but above it.[bf] 27 And I saw something like the outward appearance of amber, something like the appearance of fire, with a covering around it, from the likeness of his loins and upward.[bg] And from the likeness of his loins and downward[bh] I saw something like the appearance of fire, and it was radiant all around.[bi] 28 Like the appearance[bj] of a bow that is in the cloud on a rainy day,[bk] such was the radiance[bl] around it; thus was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 1:1 Or “among”
- Ezekiel 1:1 Hebrew “exile”
- Ezekiel 1:1 Literally “river of Kebar”
- Ezekiel 1:3 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 1:3 Or “certainly”
- Ezekiel 1:3 Literally “river of Kebar”
- Ezekiel 1:4 Or “saw”
- Ezekiel 1:4 Literally “for it”
- Ezekiel 1:4 Or “middle”
- Ezekiel 1:4 Or “middle”
- Ezekiel 1:5 Or “middle”
- Ezekiel 1:5 Literally “this their appearance the likeness of a human to them”
- Ezekiel 1:6 Literally “and four faces to each”
- Ezekiel 1:6 Literally “and four wings to each for them”
- Ezekiel 1:8 Literally “hand his a man”
- Ezekiel 1:9 Literally “their wings were touching each her sister”
- Ezekiel 1:9 Literally “they did not turn at their going”
- Ezekiel 1:9 Literally “each toward the side of his face they went”
- Ezekiel 1:10 Literally “of the four of them”
- Ezekiel 1:10 Literally “of the four of them”
- Ezekiel 1:10 Literally “of the four of them”
- Ezekiel 1:11 Literally “from to above”
- Ezekiel 1:12 Literally “toward the side of his face they went”
- Ezekiel 1:12 Literally “towards which it was there the spirit”
- Ezekiel 1:12 Literally “they did not turn at their going”
- Ezekiel 1:13 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 1:13 That is, the fire
- Ezekiel 1:13 Literally “brightness was for the fire”
- Ezekiel 1:14 Literally “sped forth and returned”
- Ezekiel 1:15 Or “ground”
- Ezekiel 1:15 Literally “the living creatures for the four of his/its faces.” The LXX has “for the four of them.”
- Ezekiel 1:16 Or “chrysolite,” or “topaz”; this stone is difficult to identify exactly
- Ezekiel 1:16 Literally “likeness was one for the four of them”
- Ezekiel 1:16 Literally “as that it was a wheel in the midst of a wheel”
- Ezekiel 1:17 Literally “turn away when they went”
- Ezekiel 1:18 Literally “height was for them and awesomeness was for them”
- Ezekiel 1:18 Literally “of the four of them”
- Ezekiel 1:19 Literally “and at the lifting up of the creatures from the earth”
- Ezekiel 1:20 Literally “Toward which”
- Ezekiel 1:20 Hebrew “creature”
- Ezekiel 1:21 That is, the living creatures
- Ezekiel 1:21 That is, the wheels
- Ezekiel 1:21 Or “ground”
- Ezekiel 1:21 Or “were lifted up”
- Ezekiel 1:21 Hebrew “creature”
- Ezekiel 1:22 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 1:22 Literally “terrible”
- Ezekiel 1:22 Literally “frozen water”
- Ezekiel 1:22 Literally “from to upward”
- Ezekiel 1:23 Literally “each towards its sister”
- Ezekiel 1:24 Often translated “Almighty”
- Ezekiel 1:24 Literally “at their going”
- Ezekiel 1:24 Literally “at their standing”
- Ezekiel 1:25 Or “it was”
- Ezekiel 1:25 Literally “at their standing”
- Ezekiel 1:26 Literally “the appearance of a stone of sapphire”
- Ezekiel 1:26 Or “like”
- Ezekiel 1:26 Literally “from to above”
- Ezekiel 1:27 Literally “to above”
- Ezekiel 1:27 Literally “to down”
- Ezekiel 1:27 Literally “brightness was for it around”
- Ezekiel 1:28 Or “likeness”
- Ezekiel 1:28 Literally “the day of the rain”
- Ezekiel 1:28 Or “brightness”
Ezekiel 1
New Living Translation
A Vision of Living Beings
1 On July 31[a] of my thirtieth year,[b] while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. 2 This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. 3 (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians,[c] and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)
4 As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber.[d] 5 From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, 6 except that each had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze. 8 Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings. 9 The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it. Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.
10 Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back. 11 Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body. 12 They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.
13 The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and lightning seemed to flash back and forth among them. 14 And the living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning.
15 As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels touching the ground beside them, one wheel belonging to each. 16 The wheels sparkled as if made of beryl. All four wheels looked alike and were made the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. 17 The beings could move in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved. 18 The rims of the four wheels were tall and frightening, and they were covered with eyes all around.
19 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. When they flew upward, the wheels went up, too. 20 The spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. So wherever the spirit went, the wheels and the living beings also went. 21 When the beings moved, the wheels moved. When the beings stopped, the wheels stopped. When the beings flew upward, the wheels rose up, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
22 Spread out above them was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal. 23 Beneath this surface the wings of each living being stretched out to touch the others’ wings, and each had two wings covering its body. 24 As they flew, their wings sounded to me like waves crashing against the shore or like the voice of the Almighty[e] or like the shouting of a mighty army. When they stopped, they let down their wings. 25 As they stood with wings lowered, a voice spoke from beyond the crystal surface above them.
26 Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. 27 From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. 28 All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.
Footnotes
- 1:1a Hebrew On the fifth day of the fourth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of dates in Ezekiel can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This event occurred on July 31, 593 B.c.
- 1:1b Or in the thirtieth year.
- 1:3 Or Chaldeans.
- 1:4 Or like burnished metal; also in 1:27.
- 1:24 Hebrew Shaddai.
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