Ezekiel 1

Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw ^[a]visions of God.

In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

(On the fifth of the month ^[b]in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile,

On the fifth of the month – it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin –

the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of the Lord came upon him.)

the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the River Kebar in the land of the Babylonians.^[a] There the hand of the Lord was on him.

As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.

I looked, and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal,

Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.

and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human,

Each of them had four faces and four wings.

but each of them had four faces and four wings.

Their legs were straight and ^[c]their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze.

Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.

Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings,

their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.

and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; ^[d]all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and ^[e]all four had the face of an eagle.

Their faces looked like this: each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.

Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upwards, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body.

And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.

Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.

^[f]In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, ^[g]like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was ^[h]flashing from the fire.

The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.

And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.

The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, ^[i]for each of the four of them.

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.

The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like ^[j]sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if ^[k]one wheel were within another.

This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: they sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.

Whenever they ^[l]moved, they ^[m]moved in any of their four ^[n]directions without turning as they ^[o]moved.

As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went.

As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about.

Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

Whenever the living beings ^[p]moved, the wheels ^[q]moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.

When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.

Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction^[r]. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living ^[s]beings was in the wheels.

Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living ^[t]beings was in the wheels.

Vision of Divine Glory

When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Now over the heads of the living ^[u]beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of ^[v]crystal, spread out over their heads.

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome.

Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.

Under the vault their wings were stretched out one towards the other, and each had two wings covering its body.

I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of ^[w]the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty,^[b] like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

And there came a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.

Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like ^[x]lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.

Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.

Then I ^[y]noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like ^[z]glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.

I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.

As the appearance of the rainbow ^[aa]in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking.