Old/New Testament

Call of the Prophet^[a]

Chapter 1

The Vision of Four Living Creatures.^{[b] 1 [c]}In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions. ² On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— ³ the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar. There the hand of the Lord was upon him.

^4 [d]As I looked, I beheld a stormy wind coming from the north: an immense cloud with flashing fire and a brilliant light surrounding it. In the middle of the fire there was something that looked like gleaming amber.^{[e] 5} Within it, there seemed to be four living creatures with human forms.^{[f] 6} Each had four faces; each had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and they had hooves like those of a calf, sparkling with a gleam like that of burnished bronze.

⁸ Below their wings, they had human hands on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. ⁹ They touched one another with their wings. They did not turn as they moved; each of them moved straight ahead.

¹⁰ As for their faces, each of the four had the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Their wings were spread upward. Each creature had one wing touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. ¹² Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the Spirit wished them to go, they would do so; they never turned as they moved.

¹³ In the middle of the living creatures was what appeared to be burning coals of fire, like torches darting to and fro between the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning issued forth from the fire. ¹⁴ The living creatures kept disappearing and reappearing like flashes of lightning.

¹⁵ As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each of the four living creatures. ¹⁶ As for the appearance and the structure of the wheels, they all held the appearance of sparkling chrysolites, and all four of them looked alike; they were so constructed that each wheel appeared to have another wheel inside it. ¹⁷ They could move in any of the four directions they faced, without veering as they moved.

¹⁸ The four of them had rims that were awesome in their size, and those rims were filled with eyes all around. ¹⁹ When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose with them. ²⁰ They moved in whatever direction the Spirit wished to go, and the wheels rose with them, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹ When the creatures moved, the wheels also moved. When the creatures stood still, the wheels also stood still. When the creatures left the ground, the wheels also left the ground, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²² Over the heads of the living creatures, there was what appeared to be a firmament, glittering like crystal and spread out over their heads. ²³ Beneath the firmament, their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each of the creatures had two wings covering its body. ²⁴ I also heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound was like the noise emanating from an armed camp. And when they stood still, they lowered their wings.^[g]

²⁵ And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶ Above the dome over their heads there was something like a sapphire in the form of a throne, and seated high above the likeness of a throne there was a form with the appearance of a man.

²⁷ Upward from what resembled his waist I beheld what looked like fire that gave forth a brilliant light all around. ²⁸ The radiance of the encircling light was like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I beheld it, I prostrated myself on the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me.

Chapter 2

The Vison of the Scroll. ¹ He said to me: Stand up, son of man.^[h] I wish to speak with you. ² As he spoke to me, a Spirit entered into me and stood me on my feet, and I listened to him speaking.

³ He said to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. ⁴ Because they are obstinate and stubborn, I am sending you to them. You shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” ⁵ Whether they listen to you or whether in their rebelliousness they refuse to listen, they will know that there is a prophet among them.

⁶ But as for you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or of what they say, even though they resist and reject you and you find yourself sitting on scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or be alarmed by their looks, for they are a rebellious tribe. ⁷ You will deliver my words to them whether they listen or whether in their rebelliousness, they refuse to listen. ⁸ But as for you, son of man, listen to what I say to you and do not be rebellious like that rebellious tribe. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you.

⁹ I saw a hand stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll. ¹⁰ He unrolled it in front of me. It had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words, of lamentation and dirges and woe.

The People of Faith^[a]

Chapter 11

What Faith Is. ¹ Faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the conviction about things that cannot be seen.^{[b] 2} Indeed, it was because of it that our ancestors were commended.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen came into being from the invisible.

The Faith of the Early Patriarchs.^{[c] 4} By faith Abel^[d] offered to God a better sacrifice than that of Cain. Because of this he was attested as righteous, God himself bearing witness to his gifts. Although he is dead, he continues to speak through it.

⁵ By faith Enoch^[e] was taken up so that he did not see death. He was found no more, because God had taken him, and before he was taken up he was attested to have pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷ By faith Noah,^[f] having been warned by God about things not yet seen, took heed and built an ark to save his household. Through his faith he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that derives from faith.

The Faith of Abraham and His Descendants. ⁸ By faith Abraham^[g] obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. He went forth without knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to a city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹ By faith Abraham also received the power of procreation, even though he was well past the age—and Sarah herself was barren^[h]—because he believed that the one who had made the promise would be faithful in fulfilling it. ¹² Therefore, from one man, himself as good as dead, came forth descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand on the seashore.

¹³ All these died in faith without having received what had been promised, but from a distance they saw far ahead how those promises would be fulfilled and welcomed them, and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and foreigners on the earth. ¹⁴ People who speak in this way make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had the opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But in fact they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

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, ¹⁸ of whom he had been told, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” ¹⁹ For he reasoned that God was able even to raise someone from the dead, and in a sense he was given back Isaac from the dead.^[i]