1And it was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, and I was in the midst of^a the exiles^b by the Kebar River.^c The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. ²On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of the king Jehoiachin— ³the word of Yahweh came clearly^d to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans at the Kebar River,^e and the hand of Yahweh was on him there.

⁴And I looked,^f and look! A storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around and within it,^g and from its midst^h it was like the outward appearance of amber stone from the midstⁱ of the fire. ⁵And from its midst^j was the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance: a human form,^k ⁶and each had four faces,^l and each of them had four wings.^m ⁷And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of the foot of a calf, and they were sparkling like the outward appearance of polished bronze. ⁸And under their wings were human handsⁿ on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them were as follows: ⁹their wings were touching one another;^o each of them went straight forward,^p without turning right or left.^q ¹⁰The likeness of their faces was the face of a human in front, and the face of a lion on the right of each of them,^r and the face of an ox on the left of each of them,^s and the face of an eagle for each of them.^t ¹¹So were their faces; their wings were spread out upward;^u each had two touching one another and two covering their bodies. ¹²And each went straight forward;^v wherever the spirit went^w they went, and they did not turn as they went.^x ¹³As for^y the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It^z was moving to and fro between the living creatures, and the fire was very bright^a and lightning was going out from the fire. ¹⁴And the living creatures were speeding to and fro^b like the appearance of lightning.

¹⁵And I saw the living creatures, and look! A wheel was on the earth^c beside each of the living creatures that had four faces.^d ¹⁶The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the appearance of beryl,^e and they all looked alike,^f and their appearance and their construction was like a wheel within a wheel.^g ¹⁷When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not veer at all as they went.^h ¹⁸And their rims were high and awesome,ⁱ and all four of^j their rims were full of eyes all around. ¹⁹And at the going of the living creatures, the wheels next to them also went, and when the creatures were lifted from the ground^k the wheels also rose. ²⁰Wherever^l the spirit went they would go there, and the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures^m was in the wheels. ²¹At theirⁿ going, they^o go, and at their standing, they stood, and at their being lifted up from on the earth,^p the wheels rose,^q for the spirit of the living creatures^r was in the wheels.

²²Now^s the likeness above the heads of the living creatures was an expanse like the outward appearance of awesome^t ice^u spread out above their heads upward.^v ²³And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight one toward the other;^w each had two wings covering them, and each had two wings covering their bodies. ²⁴And I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai,^x and when they moved^y there was a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stood still^z they lowered their wings. ²⁵And there was^a a sound from above the expanse that was above their heads, and when they stood^b they lowered their wings. ²⁶And from above the expanse that was above their heads there was the likeness of a throne, looking like a sapphire,^c and above the likeness of the throne was a likeness similar to^d the appearance of a human on it, but above it.^e ²⁷And I saw something like the outward appearance of amber, something like the appearance of fire, with a covering around it, from the likeness of his loins and upward.^f And from the likeness of his loins and downward^g I saw something like the appearance of fire, and it was radiant all around.^h ²⁸Like the appearanceⁱ of a bow that is in the cloud on a rainy day,^j such was the radiance^k around it; thus was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

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Footnotes

aOr “among”
bHebrew “exile”
cLiterally “river of Kebar”
dOr “certainly”
eLiterally “river of Kebar”
fOr “saw”
gLiterally “for it”
hOr “middle”
iOr “middle”
jOr “middle”
kLiterally “this their appearance the likeness of a human to them”
lLiterally “and four faces to each”
mLiterally “and four wings to each for them”
nLiterally “hand his a man”
oLiterally “their wings were touching each her sister”
pLiterally “they did not turn at their going”
qLiterally “each toward the side of his face they went”
rLiterally “of the four of them”
sLiterally “of the four of them”
tLiterally “of the four of them”
uLiterally “from to above”
vLiterally “toward the side of his face they went”
wLiterally “towards which it was there the spirit”
xLiterally “they did not turn at their going”
yOr “And”
zThat is, the fire
aLiterally “brightness was for the fire”
bLiterally “sped forth and returned”
cOr “ground”
dLiterally “the living creatures for the four of his/its faces.” The LXX has “for the four of them.”
eOr “chrysolite,” or “topaz”; this stone is difficult to identify exactly
fLiterally “likeness was one for the four of them”
gLiterally “as that it was a wheel in the midst of a wheel”
hLiterally “turn away when they went”
iLiterally “height was for them and awesomeness was for them”
jLiterally “of the four of them”
kLiterally “and at the lifting up of the creatures from the earth”
lLiterally “Toward which”
mHebrew “creature”
nThat is, the living creatures
oThat is, the wheels
pOr “ground”
qOr “were lifted up”
rHebrew “creature”
sOr “And”
tLiterally “terrible”
uLiterally “frozen water”
vLiterally “from to upward”
wLiterally “each towards its sister”
xOften translated “Almighty”
yLiterally “at their going”
zLiterally “at their standing”
aOr “it was”
bLiterally “at their standing”
cLiterally “the appearance of a stone of sapphire”
dOr “like”
eLiterally “from to above”
fLiterally “to above”
gLiterally “to down”
hLiterally “brightness was for it around”
iOr “likeness”
jLiterally “the day of the rain”
kOr “brightness”