God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and there above the expanse over the heads^(A) of the cherubim was something like a throne with the appearance of lapis lazuli. ² The Lord spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with blazing coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.”^(B) So he went in as I watched.

³ Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud^(C) filled the inner court.^{(D) 4} Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherub to the threshold of the temple.^(E) The temple was filled with the cloud,^(F) and the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.^{(G) 5} The sound of the cherubim’s wings could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶ After the Lord commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from inside the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ Then the cherub reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took some and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have the form of human hands under their wings.^(H)

⁹ I looked, and there were four wheels beside the cherubim,^(I) one wheel beside each cherub. The luster of the wheels was like the gleam of beryl.^{(J) 10} In appearance, all four looked alike, like a wheel within a wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions,^(K) without pivoting as they moved. But wherever the head faced, they would go in that direction, without pivoting as they went. ¹² Their entire bodies,^(L) including their backs, hands, wings, and the wheels that the four of them had, were full of eyes all around.^{(M) 13} As I listened the wheels were called “the wheelwork.” ¹⁴ Each one had four faces:^(N) one was the face of a cherub, the second the face of a human, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ The cherubim ascended; these were the living creatures I had seen by the Chebar Canal.^{(O) 16} When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when they lifted their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not veer away from them. ¹⁷ When the cherubim stopped,^(P) the wheels stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple^(Q) and stopped above the cherubim.^{(R) 19} The cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth right before my eyes;^(S) the wheels were beside them as they went. The glory of the God of Israel was above them, and it stopped at the entrance to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house.

²⁰ These were the living creatures I had seen^(T) beneath the God of Israel by the Chebar Canal,^(U) and I recognized that they were cherubim. ²¹ Each had four faces and each had four wings,^(V) with what looked something like human hands under their wings. ²² Their faces looked like the same faces I had seen^(W) by the Chebar Canal. Each creature went straight ahead.

Vision of Israel’s Corrupt Leaders

11 The Spirit then lifted me up^(A) and brought me to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, which faces east, and at the gate’s entrance were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² The Lord^[a] said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil^(B) and give wicked advice in this city. ³ They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses?^[b](C) The city is the pot,^(D) and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me, “You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind.^{(E) 6} You have multiplied your slain in this city,^(F) filling its streets with them.

⁷ “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: The slain you have put within it are the meat,^(G) and the city is the pot, but I^[c] will take you out of it.^{(H) 8} You fear the sword,^(I) so I will bring the sword against you.^(J) This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹ I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners; I will execute judgments against you.^{(K) 10} You will fall by the sword,^(L) and I will judge you at the border of Israel.^(M) Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ The city will not be a pot for you,^(N) and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ¹² so you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’”^(O)

¹³ Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died.^(P) Then I fell facedown and cried out loudly, “Oh, Lord God!^(Q) You are bringing the remnant of Israel to an end!”

The Lord’s Glory

³⁴ The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.^{(A) 35} Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

³ All the elders^(A) of Israel came, and the priests^(B) picked up the ark.^{(C) 4} The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting,^(D) and the holy utensils that were in the tent.^{(E) 5} King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many.^{(F) 6} The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place^(G) beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim were spreading their wings over^[a] the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above.^{(H) 8} The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today.^{(I) 9} Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb,^[b](J) where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.^(K)

¹⁰ When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple,^{(L) 11} and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory^(M) of the Lord filled the temple.