Ezekiel 1
Good News Translation
EZEKIEL'S FIRST VISION OF GOD (1.1—7.27)
God's Throne
1 (A)On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year,[a] I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. (2 (B)It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power.
4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. 5 (C)At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. 8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. 9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies.
10 (D)Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion's face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle's face at the back. 11 Two wings[b] of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. 12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn.
13 (E)Among[c] the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning. 14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning.
15 (F)As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them.[d] 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 (G)The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes.[e] 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same.
22 (H)Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. 23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. 24 (I)I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, 25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads.
26 (J)Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. 27 (K)The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light 28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord.
God Calls Ezekiel to Be a Prophet
When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 1:1 It is not known to what year this refers.
- Ezekiel 1:11 Some ancient translations Two wings; Hebrew Their faces, their wings.
- Ezekiel 1:13 Some ancient translations Among; Hebrew And the likeness of.
- Ezekiel 1:15 Some ancient translations them; Hebrew their faces.
- Ezekiel 1:18 Verse 18 in Hebrew is unclear.
Ezekiel 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Ezekiel 1
The Message
Wheels Within Wheels, Like a Gyroscope
1 When I was thirty years of age, I was living with the exiles on the Kebar River. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the sky opened up and I saw visions of God.
2-3 (It was the fifth day of the month in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin that God’s Word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, on the banks of the Kebar River in the country of Babylon. God’s hand came upon him that day.)
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4-9 I looked: I saw an immense dust storm come from the north, an immense cloud with lightning flashing from it, a huge ball of fire glowing like bronze. Within the fire were what looked like four creatures vibrant with life. Each had the form of a human being, but each also had four faces and four wings. Their legs were as sturdy and straight as columns, but their feet were hoofed like those of a calf and sparkled from the fire like burnished bronze. On all four sides under their wings they had human hands. All four had both faces and wings, with the wings touching one another. They turned neither one way nor the other; they went straight forward.
10-12 Their faces looked like this: In front a human face, on the right side the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, and in back the face of an eagle. So much for the faces. The wings were spread out with the tips of one pair touching the creature on either side; the other pair of wings covered its body. Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit went, they went. They didn’t turn as they went.
13-14 The four creatures looked like a blazing fire, or like fiery torches. Tongues of fire shot back and forth between the creatures, and out of the fire, bolts of lightning. The creatures flashed back and forth like strikes of lightning.
15-16 As I watched the four creatures, I saw something that looked like a wheel on the ground beside each of the four-faced creatures. This is what the wheels looked like: They were identical wheels, sparkling like diamonds in the sun. It looked like they were wheels within wheels, like a gyroscope.
17-21 They went in any one of the four directions they faced, but straight, not veering off. The rims were immense, circled with eyes. When the living creatures went, the wheels went; when the living creatures lifted off, the wheels lifted off. Wherever the spirit went, they went, the wheels sticking right with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures went, the wheels went; when the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; when the creatures lifted off, the wheels lifted off, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22-24 Over the heads of the living creatures was something like a dome, shimmering like a sky full of cut glass, vaulted over their heads. Under the dome one set of wings was extended toward the others, with another set of wings covering their bodies. When they moved I heard their wings—it was like the roar of a great waterfall, like the voice of The Strong God, like the noise of a battlefield. When they stopped, they folded their wings.
25-28 And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads. Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne. From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere! The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that’s what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God!
When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground. Then I heard a voice.
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Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson