Old Testament · Prophets

Ezekiel chapter 1

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day — while I was among the by the — the skies split open, and I saw .On the fifth day of the month — it was the fifth year of —the word of came directly to Ezekiel son of Buzi, the , in the land of the Babylonians by the Kebar canal. And there .I looked — and there it was: a massive storm surging out of the , a colossal cloud wrapped in fire, flashing light radiating from it on every side, and at its center something like glowing inside the flames.And from its center emerged the forms of four . This is what they looked like: they had a human shape,but each had , and each had four wings.Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like .Under their wings on all four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings arranged like this:their wings touched each other. They as they moved — each one went straight ahead.As for the shape of their faces: each had the in front, the face of a on the right, the face of an on the left, and the face of an behind.That was their faces. Their wings spread out above them — each had two wings touching the wings of the ones beside it, and two .Each one moved straight ahead. Wherever wanted to go, they went, never turning as they moved.The forms of the living beings looked like of fire — like torches. Fire surged back and forth between the beings, blazing bright, and cracked out of the fire.The living beings — like bolts of lightning.As I watched the living beings, I noticed a on the ground beside each one — one wheel for each of the four-faced beings.This is what the wheels looked like: they gleamed like , and all four had the same design — each appeared to be made like .When they moved, they could go in any of the four directions without turning.Their rims were massive and — and all four rims were on every side.When the living beings moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the beings rose from the ground, the wheels rose too.Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went — and the wheels rose right along with them, because .When the beings moved, the wheels moved. When the beings stopped, they stopped. When the beings rose from the ground, the wheels rose with them — because the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.Spread out above the heads of the living beings was something like a — dazzling, like the gleam of stretched out over them, breathtaking.Under the expanse, their wings stretched out straight toward each other. Each being had two wings covering one side of its body and two covering the other.When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings — like , like the voice of , like the thunder of . When they stopped, they folded their wings.Then the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they folded their wings.Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a made of . And high above on the throne sat .From what appeared to be his waist up, I saw something like , like fire enclosed all around. And from what appeared to be his waist down, I saw what looked like fire — and brilliant light blazed from him on every side.The brilliant light surrounding him was like a shining through clouds on a rainy day. This was what looked like. When I saw it, — and then I heard a voice speaking.