The Vision of the Chariot

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.^{(A) 2} On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),^{(B) 3} the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar, and the hand of the Lord was on him there.

⁴ As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually and in the middle of the fire something like gleaming amber.^{(C) 5} In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form.^{(D) 6} Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.^{(E) 7} Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like burnished bronze.^{(F) 8} Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:^{(G) 9} their wings touched one another; each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved. ¹⁰ As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle;^{(H) 11} such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.^{(I) 12} Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. ¹³ In the middle of^[a] the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and lightning issued from the fire.^{(J) 14} The living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.^(K)

¹⁵ As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.^{[b](L) 16} As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl, and the four had the same form, their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel.^{(M) 17} When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved.^{(N) 18} Their rims were tall and awesome, for the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.^{(O) 19} When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.^{(P) 20} Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for a living spirit was in the wheels.^{(Q) 21} When they moved, the others moved; when they stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for a living spirit was in the wheels.^(R)

²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was something like a dome, shining like crystal,^[c] spread out above their heads.^{(S) 23} Under the dome their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each of the creatures had two wings covering its body. ²⁴ When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty,^[d] a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stopped, they let down their wings.^{(T) 25} And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads; when they stopped, they let down their wings.

²⁶ And above the dome over their heads there was something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire,^[e] and seated above the likeness of the throne was something that seemed like a human form.^{(U) 27} Upward from what appeared like the loins I saw something like gleaming amber, something that looked like fire enclosed all around, and downward from what looked like the loins I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a splendor all around.^{(V) 28} Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking.^(W)

The Vision of the Scroll

2 He said to me: “O mortal,^[f] stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.”^{(X) 2} And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.^{(Y) 3} He said to me, “Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation^[g] of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day.^{(Z) 4} The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’^{(AA) 5} Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.^{(AB) 6} And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.^{(AC) 7} You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.^(AD)

⁸ “But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”^{(AE) 9} I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it.^{(AF) 10} He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

The Meaning of Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance^[a] of things hoped for, the conviction^[b] of things not seen.^{(A) 2} Indeed, by faith^[c] our ancestors received approval. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.^[d](B)

The Examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable^[e] sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith^[f] he still speaks.^{(C) 5} By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”^{(D) 6} And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷ By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.^(E)

The Faith of Abraham

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going.^{(F) 9} By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^{(G) 10} For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.^{(H) 11} By faith, with Sarah’s involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he considered^[g] him faithful who had promised.^{(I) 12} Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”^(J)

¹³ All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,^{(K) 14} for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.^(L)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,^{(M) 18} of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”^{(N) 19} He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.^(O)