The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, (A)on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something (B)like a sapphire,[a] in appearance like a throne. And he said to (C)the man clothed in linen, “Go in among (D)the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with (E)burning coals from between the cherubim, and (F)scatter them over the city.”

And he went in (G)before my eyes. Now the cherubim were standing (H)on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and (I)a cloud filled (J)the inner court. And (K)the glory of the Lord (L)went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house (M)was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with (N)the brightness of the glory of the Lord. And (O)the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, (P)like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

And when he commanded (Q)the man clothed in linen, (R)“Take fire from between (S)the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. The cherubim appeared to have (T)the form of a human hand under their wings.

(U)And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and (V)the appearance of the wheels was (W)like sparkling (X)beryl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 (Y)When they went, they went in any of their four directions[b] (Z)without turning as they went, (AA)but in whatever direction the front wheel[c] faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 (AB)And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,[d] and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing (AC)“the whirling wheels.” 14 (AD)And every one had four faces: (AE)the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was (AF)a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 (AG)And the cherubim mounted up. These were (AH)the living creatures that I saw by (AI)the Chebar canal. 16 (AJ)And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And (AK)when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 (AL)When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures[e] was in them.

18 (AM)Then (AN)the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 (AO)And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth (AP)before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the (AQ)east gate of the house of the Lord, and (AR)the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

20 (AS)These were the living creatures that I saw (AT)underneath the God of Israel by (AU)the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 (AV)Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings (AW)the likeness of human hands. 22 (AX)And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. (AY)Each one of them went straight forward.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 10:1 Or lapis lazuli
  2. Ezekiel 10:11 Hebrew to their four sides
  3. Ezekiel 10:11 Hebrew the head
  4. Ezekiel 10:12 Or their whole body, their backs, their hands, and their wings
  5. Ezekiel 10:17 Or spirit of life

The Lord’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10 In my vision I saw what appeared to be a throne of blue lapis lazuli above the crystal surface over the heads of the cherubim. Then the Lord spoke to the man in linen clothing and said, “Go between the whirling wheels beneath the cherubim, and take a handful of burning coals and scatter them over the city.” He did this as I watched.

The cherubim were standing at the south end of the Temple when the man went in, and the cloud of glory filled the inner courtyard. Then the glory of the Lord rose up from above the cherubim and went over to the entrance of the Temple. The Temple was filled with this cloud of glory, and the courtyard glowed brightly with the glory of the Lord. The moving wings of the cherubim sounded like the voice of God Almighty[a] and could be heard even in the outer courtyard.

The Lord said to the man in linen clothing, “Go between the cherubim and take some burning coals from between the wheels.” So the man went in and stood beside one of the wheels. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand and took some live coals from the fire burning among them. He put the coals into the hands of the man in linen clothing, and the man took them and went out. (All the cherubim had what looked like human hands under their wings.)

I looked, and each of the four cherubim had a wheel beside him, and the wheels sparkled like beryl. 10 All four wheels looked alike and were made the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. 11 The cherubim could move in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved. They went straight in the direction they faced, never turning aside. 12 Both the cherubim and the wheels were covered with eyes. The cherubim had eyes all over their bodies, including their hands, their backs, and their wings. 13 I heard someone refer to the wheels as “the whirling wheels.” 14 Each of the four cherubim had four faces: the first was the face of an ox,[b] the second was a human face, the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

15 Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the same living beings I had seen beside the Kebar River. 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved with them. When they lifted their wings to fly, the wheels stayed beside them. 17 When the cherubim stopped, the wheels stopped. When they flew upward, the wheels rose up, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

18 Then the glory of the Lord moved out from the entrance of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim. 19 And as I watched, the cherubim flew with their wheels to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

20 These were the same living beings I had seen beneath the God of Israel when I was by the Kebar River. I knew they were cherubim, 21 for each had four faces and four wings and what looked like human hands under their wings. 22 And their faces were just like the faces of the beings I had seen at the Kebar, and they traveled straight ahead, just as the others had.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:5 Hebrew El-Shaddai.
  2. 10:14 Hebrew the face of a cherub; compare 1:10.