Ezekiel 1–3

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision

1In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles^a by the Kebar River,^b the heavens were opened^c and I saw visions^d of God.

²On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin^e—³the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel^f the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.^a There the hand of the Lord was on him.^g

⁴I looked, and I saw a windstorm^h coming out of the northⁱ—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,^{j 5}and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.^k In appearance their form was human,^{l 6}but each of them had four faces^m and four wings. ⁷Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.^{n 8}Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands.^o All four of them had faces and wings, ⁹and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.^p

¹⁰Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.^{q 11}Such were their faces. They each had two wings^r spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. ¹²Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.^{s 13}The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals^t of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning^u flashed out of it. ¹⁴The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.^v

¹⁵As I looked at the living creatures,^w I saw a wheel^x on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. ¹⁶This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz,^y and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. ¹⁷As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction^z as the creatures went. ¹⁸Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes^a all around.

¹⁹When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. ²⁰Wherever the spirit would go, they would go,^b and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.^c

²²Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault,^d sparkling like crystal, and awesome. ²³Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. ²⁴When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing^e waters, like the voice^f of the Almighty,^b like the tumult of an army.^g When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne^h of lapis lazuli,ⁱ and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.^{j 27}I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.^{k 28}Like the appearance of a rainbow^l in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.^m

This was the appearance of the likeness of the gloryⁿ of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown,^o and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet

2He said to me, “Son of man,^ap stand^q up on your feet and I will speak to you.^r” ²As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me^s to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

³He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.^{t 4}The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.^u Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^{v 5}And whether they listen or fail to listen^w—for they are a rebellious people^x—they will know that a prophet has been among them.^{y 6}And you, son of man, do not be afraid^z of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns^a are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^{b 7}You must speak^c my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.^{d 8}But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel^e like that rebellious people;^f open your mouth and eat^g what I give you.”

⁹Then I looked, and I saw a hand^h stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,^{i 10}which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.^j

3And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate^k it, and it tasted as sweet as honey^l in my mouth.

⁴He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them.^{m 5}You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language,ⁿ but to the people of Israel—⁶not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.^{o 7}But the people of Israel are not willing to listen^p to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate.^{q 8}But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.^{r 9}I will make your forehead^s like the hardest stone, harder than flint.^t Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.^u”

¹⁰And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart^v all the words I speak to you. ¹¹Go^w now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’^x whether they listen or fail to listen.^y”

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up,^z and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.^{a 13}It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures^a brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.^{b 14}The Spirit^c then lifted me up^d and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord^e on me. ¹⁵I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River.^f And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days^g—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me:^{h 17}“Son of man, I have made you a watchmanⁱ for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.^{j 18}When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,^k’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for^b their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{l 19}But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn^m from their wickednessⁿ or from their evil ways, they will die^o for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.^p

²⁰“Again, when a righteous person turns^q from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block^r before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.^{s 21}But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.^t”

²²The hand of the Lord^u was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go^v out to the plain,^w and there I will speak to you.” ²³So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,^x and I fell facedown.^y

²⁴Then the Spirit came into me and raised me^z to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.^{a 25}And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.^{b 26}I will make your tongue stick to the roof^c of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.^{d 27}But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^e Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.^f