Ezekiel 1–3

Chapter 1

The Vision of Four Figures

¹Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the ^ariver Chebar among the exiles, 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 the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the ^bland of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there ^cthe hand of the Lord came upon him.)

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

⁵Within it there were figures resembling ^afour living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human ^bform.

⁶Each of them had ^afour faces and ^bfour wings.

⁷Their legs were straight and ¹their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like ^aburnished bronze.

⁸Under their wings on their ^afour sides were human ^bhands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

⁹their wings touched one another; their faces did ^anot turn when they moved, each ^bwent straight forward.

¹⁰As for the ^aform 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 all four had the face of an eagle.

¹¹Such 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.

¹³¹In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of ^afire, ²like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was ³flashing from the fire.

¹⁴And the living beings ^aran to and fro like bolts of ^blightning.

¹⁵Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one ^awheel on the earth beside the living beings, ¹for each of the four of them.

¹⁶The ^aappearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like ¹sparkling ^bberyl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if ²one wheel were within another.

¹⁷Whenever they ¹moved, they moved in any of their four ²directions without ^aturning as they moved.

¹⁸As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were ^afull of eyes round about.

^19aWhenever the living beings ¹moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings ^brose from the earth, the wheels rose also.

^20aWherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction¹. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living ²beings 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 ¹beings was in the wheels.

Vision of Divine Glory

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

²³Under 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 abundant waters as they went, like the ^bvoice of ¹the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the ^csound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

²⁵And there came a voice 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 ^bresembling a throne, like ^1clapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a ^dman.

²⁷Then I ¹noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something ^alike ²glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.

²⁸As the appearance of the ^arainbow ¹in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the ^bglory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I ^cfell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Chapter 2

The Prophet’s Call

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

²As He spoke to me the ^aSpirit entered me and set me 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 ^1astubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord ²God.’

⁵“As for them, ^awhether they listen or ¹not—for they are a rebellious house—they will ^bknow that a prophet has been among them.

⁶“And you, son of man, ^aneither fear them nor fear their words, though ^bthistles and thorns 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 ¹not, for they are rebellious.

⁸“Now 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 extended to me; and lo, a ^1bscroll was in it.

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

Chapter 3

Ezekiel’s Commission

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 fed me this scroll.

³He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and ^afill your ¹body 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, ¹go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.

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

⁶nor to many peoples of ¹unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. ²But I have sent you to them ³who 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 and obstinate.

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

⁹“Like ¹emery harder 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 ¹closely.

¹¹“¹Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or ²not, ‘Thus says the Lord ³God.’ ”

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

¹³And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings 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 rage of my spirit, and ^athe hand of the Lord 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 consternation among them.

^16aAt the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁷“Son of man, I have appointed you a ^awatchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, ^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 commits iniquity, and I place an ^bobstacle 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.”

²²The hand of the Lord 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 the Lord 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 made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house.

²⁵“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 stick to ¹the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house.

²⁷“But ^awhen I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord ¹God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; ^bfor they are a rebellious house.