Ezekiel 10
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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 sapphire[a] stone resembling the shape of a throne that appeared above them. 2 The Lord spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with hot 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 had the same form, 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,[b] 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) the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that 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 stood still,(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 stood 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 stood 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 the form of 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.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 10:1 Or lapis lazuli
- Ezekiel 10:11 Lit go after it
Ezekiel 10
Easy-to-Read Version
The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple
10 Then I looked up at the bowl[a] over the heads of the Cherub angels. The bowl looked clear blue like sapphire, and there was something that looked like a throne over it. 2 Then the one sitting on the throne said to the man dressed in linen clothes,[b] “Step into the area between the wheels[c] under the Cherub angels. Take a handful of the burning coals from between the Cherub angels and go throw them over the city of Jerusalem.”
The man walked past me. 3 The Cherub angels were standing in the area south[d] of the Temple as the man walked to them. The cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 Then the Glory of the Lord rose up off the Cherub angels near the threshold of the door of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple, and the bright light from the Glory of the Lord filled the whole courtyard. 5 The noise from the wings of the Cherub angels could be heard all the way out into the outer courtyard. The sound was very loud—like the thundering voice when God All-Powerful speaks.
6 God had given the man dressed in linen clothes a command. He had told him to go into the area between the wheels among the Cherub angels and get some hot coals. So the man went there and stood by the wheel. 7 One of the Cherub angels reached out his hand and took some of the hot coals from the area between the Cherub angels. He poured the coals into the man’s hands, and the man left. 8 (The Cherub angels had what looked like human arms under their wings.)
9 Then I noticed that there were four wheels. There was one wheel by each Cherub angel, and the wheels looked like a clear yellow jewel. 10 There were four wheels, and they all looked the same. They looked like there was a wheel in a wheel. 11 They could go in any direction when they moved, but the Cherub angels did not turn around when they moved. They went in the direction that the head was looking. They did not turn around when they moved. 12 There were eyes all over their bodies. There were eyes on their backs, on their arms, on their wings, and on their wheels—on all four wheels! 13 These wheels were what I heard called, “the area between the wheels.”
14-15 Each Cherub angel had four faces. The first was the face of a Cherub,[e] the second was the face of a man, the third was a lion’s face, and the fourth was an eagle’s face. (These Cherub angels were the living beings I saw in the vision by the Kebar Canal.[f])
Then the Cherub angels rose into the air, 16 and the wheels rose with them. When the Cherub angels raised their wings and flew into the air, not even the wheels turned around. 17 If they flew into the air, the wheels went with them. If they stood still, so did the wheels, because the spirit[g] of the living being was in them.
18 Then the Glory of the Lord rose from the threshold of the Temple, moved to the place over the Cherub angels, and stopped there. 19 Then the Cherub angels raised their wings and flew into the air. I saw them leave. The wheels went with them. Then they stopped at the East Gate of the Lord’s Temple. The Glory of the God of Israel was in the air above them.
20 These were the living beings under the Glory of the God of Israel in the vision at the Kebar Canal, and now I realized that they were Cherub angels. 21 Each living being had four faces, four wings, and something that looked like human arms under their wings. 22 The faces of the Cherub angels were the same as the four faces on the living beings in the vision by the Kebar Canal. They all looked straight ahead in the direction they were going.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 10:1 bowl This Hebrew word is the same word used in Gen. 1:6-7 to describe the dome of the sky.
- Ezekiel 10:2 linen clothes Priests usually wore these clothes.
- Ezekiel 10:2 area between the wheels The Hebrew word can mean “chariot wheel,” “whirling (spinning) wheel,” or “tumbling weed.” See chapter 1 for Ezekiel’s full description. Also in verse 6.
- Ezekiel 10:3 south Literally, “right.”
- Ezekiel 10:14 face of a Cherub This is the bull’s face mentioned in Ezek. 1:10. See Ezek. 10:22.
- Ezekiel 10:14 vision by the Kebar Canal See Ezek. 1.
- Ezekiel 10:17 spirit Or “wind.”
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