Ezekiel 1–3

CHAPTER 1

The Vision of Four Living Creatures

¹Now it happened in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the ^ariver Chebar among the exiles, that the ^bheavens were opened, and I saw ^1cvisions of God.

²(On the fifth of the month ¹in the ^afifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile,

³the ^aword of ¹Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the ^bland of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there ^cthe hand of Yahweh came upon him.)

⁴Then I looked, and behold, a ^astorm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light all around it, and in its midst something like the gleam of ^bglowing metal in the midst of the fire.

⁵And within it there were figures with the likeness of ^afour living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the ^blikeness of a man.

⁶And each of them had ^afour faces and ^bfour wings.

⁷And their legs were straight, and ¹their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like the gleam of ^aburnished bronze.

⁸And under their wings on their ^afour sides were ^bhands of a man. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

⁹their wings touched one another; their faces did ^anot turn as they went; each ^bwent straight forward.

¹⁰And as for the ^alikeness of their faces, each had the ^bface of a man; ¹all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and ²all four had the face of an eagle.

¹¹And such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and ^atwo covering their bodies.

¹²And ^aeach went straight forward; ^bwherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.

¹³¹As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of ^afire, ²like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was ³flashing from the fire.

¹⁴And the living creatures ^aran to and fro with the appearance of ^blightning.

¹⁵Then I looked at the living creatures, and behold, there was one ^awheel on the earth beside the living creatures, ¹for each of the four of them.

¹⁶The ^aappearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of ^bberyl, and all four of them had the same likeness, their appearance and workmanship being as if ¹one wheel were within another.

¹⁷Whenever they went, they went in any of their four ¹directions without ^aturning as they went.

¹⁸And as for their rims, they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were ^afull of eyes all around.

^19aAnd when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures ^brose from the earth, the wheels rose also.

^20aWherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction, ¹where the spirit was about to go. And the wheels rose alongside of them; for the spirit of the living ²creatures was in the wheels.

^21aWhenever 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 ¹creatures was in the wheels.

The Vision of the Glory of Yahweh

²²Now ^aover the heads of the living ¹creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of ²crystal, spread out over their heads above.

²³And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had ^atwo wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.

²⁴I also heard the sound of their wings like the ^asound of many waters as they went, like the ^1bsound of ²the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the ^csound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

²⁵And there came a sound from above the ^aexpanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

²⁶Now ^aabove the expanse that was over their heads there was something in the ^blikeness of a throne, like ^csapphire stone in appearance; and upon the likeness of the throne, high up, was the likeness of one with the appearance of a ^dman.

²⁷Then I saw from the appearance of His loins and upward something ^alike the gleam of ¹glowing metal with the appearance of fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something with the appearance of fire; and there was a radiance all around Him.

²⁸As the appearance of the ^arainbow ¹in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the ^bglory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I ^cfell on my face and heard a sound of a voice speaking.

CHAPTER 2

The Sending of Ezekiel

¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^astand on your feet that I may speak with you!”

²And as He spoke to me, the ^aSpirit entered me and caused me to stand on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.

³Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have ^arebelled against Me; ^bthey and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

⁴“I am sending you to them who are ^1astiff-²faced and strong-hearted children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’

⁵“As for them, ^awhether they listen or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—they will ^bknow that a prophet has been among them.

⁶“Now as for you, son of man, ^ado not fear them and do not fear their words, though ^bthistles and briers are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.

⁷“But you shall ^aspeak My words to them ^bwhether they listen or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious.

⁸“Now as for you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and ^aeat what I am giving you.”

⁹Then I looked, and behold, a ^ahand was sent forth to me; and behold, a ^1bscroll was in it.

¹⁰Then He spread it out before me, and it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, sighing, and ^awoe.

CHAPTER 3

Ezekiel Sent to the House of Israel

¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; ^aeat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

²So I ^aopened my mouth, and He ¹fed me this scroll.

³And He said to me, “Son of man, ¹feed your stomach and ^afill your ²body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ^bate it, and it was sweet as ^choney in my mouth.

⁴Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now, come to the house of Israel, and you shall speak with My words to them.

⁵“For ^ayou are not being sent to a people of ^1bunintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel,

⁶nor to many peoples of ¹unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, whose words you cannot ²understand. ³But I have sent you to them ⁴who should listen to you;

⁷yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are ^anot willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is ¹stubborn with a strong forehead and stiff heart.

⁸“Behold, I have made your face as strong as their faces and your forehead as strong as their foreheads.

⁹“Like ¹diamond stronger than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”

¹⁰Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My ^awords which I will speak to you and listen with your ears.

¹¹“And go now, come to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and you shall speak to them and say to them, whether they listen or whether they refuse, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’”

¹²Then the ^aSpirit lifted me up, and I heard a great ^brumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh ¹in His place.”

¹³And I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another and the sound of the ^awheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound.

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the wrath of my spirit, and ^athe hand of Yahweh was strong on me.

¹⁵Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there ^aseven days where they were living, causing ¹consternation among them.

^16aNow it happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

¹⁷“Son of man, I have given you as a ^awatchman to the house of Israel; so you will hear a word from My mouth, and you shall ^bwarn them from Me.

¹⁸“When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his ^ablood I will require at your hand.

¹⁹“Yet if you have ^awarned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have ^bdelivered yourself.

²⁰“Again, ^awhen a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a ^bstumbling block before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.

²¹“However, if you have ^awarned ¹the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”

²²And the hand of Yahweh was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will ^aspeak to you.”

²³So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the ^aglory of Yahweh was standing there, like the glory which ^bI saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.

²⁴The ^aSpirit then entered me and caused me to stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house.

²⁵“Now as for you, son of man, they will ^aput ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them.

²⁶“Moreover, ^aI will make your tongue cling to ¹the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man…