^3:12Then a wind lifted me up¹⁵ and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place,¹⁶^3:13and the sound of the living beings’ wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound. ^3:14A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly,¹⁷ my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully¹⁸ on me. ^3:15I came to the exiles at Tel Abib,¹⁹ who lived by the Kebar River.²⁰ I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days.²¹

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Ezekiel 3:12: Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!”

Footnotes

15 See note on “wind” in .
16 This translation accepts the emendation suggested in of בְּרוּם (bérum) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (ם) and kaph (ך) were easily confused in the old script while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) both implies a quotation which is out of place here and also does not fit the later phrase, “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.
17 The traditional interpretation is that Ezekiel embarked on his mission with bitterness and anger, either reflecting God’s attitude toward the sinful people or his own feelings about having to carry out such an unpleasant task. L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [], 1:) takes “bitterly” as a misplaced marginal note and understands the following word, normally translated “anger,” in the sense of fervor or passion. He translates, “I was passionately moved” (p. 4). Another option is to take the word translated “bitterly” as a verb meaning “strengthened” (attested in Ugaritic). See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 152.
18 Heb “the hand of the Lord was on me heavily.” The “hand of the Lord” is a metaphor for his power or influence; the modifier conveys intensity. In Ezekiel God’s “hand” being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
19 The name “Tel Abib” is a transliteration of an Akkadian term meaning “mound of the flood,” i.e., an ancient mound. It is not to be confused with the modern city of Tel Aviv in Israel.
20 Or “canal.”
21 A similar response to a divine encounter is found in Acts 9:8–9.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Spirit then lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me—bless the glory of the Lord in his place!—with the sound of the living creatures’ wings brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I left in bitterness and in an angry spirit, and the Lord’s hand was on me powerfully. I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were living by the Chebar Canal, and I sat there among them stunned for seven days.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. (May the glory of the Lord be praised in his place!) It was the sound of the wings of the living beings as they brushed against each other and the rumbling of their wheels beneath them.

The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord’s hold on me was strong. Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles in Tel-abib, beside the Kebar River. I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake when the glory of Yahweh rose from its place. And it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching lightly one against the other, and the sound of the wheels beside them and the sound of a great earthquake. And the Spirit lifted me and took me, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. And I went to the exiles at Tel Abib, who were dwelling near the Kebar River, and I sat where they were dwelling. I sat there seven days in the midst of them, stunned.

KJV 1900King James Version

Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.

Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

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