Ezekiel 10

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10Then I looked, and there above the expanse over the heads ^dof the cherubim was something like sapphire ^estone resembling the shape of a throne that appeared above them. ²The Lord spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with hot coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” ^fSo he went in as I watched.

³Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud ^gfilled the inner court. ^h4Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherub to the threshold of the temple. ⁱThe temple was filled with the cloud, ^jand the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. ^k5The sound of the cherubim’s wings could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶After the Lord commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from inside the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷Then the cherub reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took some, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸The cherubim appeared to have the form of human hands under their wings. ^l

⁹I looked, and there were four wheels beside the cherubim, ^mone wheel beside each cherub. The luster of the wheels was like the gleam of beryl. ⁿ¹⁰In appearance, all four had the same form, like a wheel within a wheel. ¹¹When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, ^owithout pivoting as they moved. But wherever the head faced, they would go in that direction, ^pwithout pivoting as they went. ¹²Their entire bodies, ^qincluding their backs, hands, wings, and the wheels that the four of them had, were full of eyes all around. ^r13As I listened the wheels were called “the wheelwork.” ¹⁴Each one had four faces: ^sthe first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

¹⁵The cherubim ascended; these were the living creatures I had seen by the Chebar Canal. ^t16When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when they lifted their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not veer away from them. ¹⁷When the cherubim stood still, ^uthe wheels stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple ^vand stood above the cherubim. ^w19The cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth right before my eyes; ^xthe wheels were beside them as they went. The glory of the God of Israel was above them, and it stood at the entrance to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house.

²⁰These were the living creatures I had seen ^ybeneath the God of Israel by the Chebar Canal, ^zand I recognized that they were cherubim. ²¹Each had four faces and each had four wings, ^awith the form of human hands under their wings. ²²Their faces looked like the same faces I had seen ^bby the Chebar Canal. Each creature went straight ahead.