Ezekiel 1–3

Ezekiel’s Vision of God

1Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by ^athe River Chebar, that ^bthe heavens were opened and I saw ^cvisions ¹of God. ²On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, ³the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the ²Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and ^dthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.

⁴Then I looked, and behold, ^ea whirlwind was coming ^fout of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. ^5gAlso from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And ^hthis was their appearance: they had ⁱthe likeness of a man. ⁶Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. ⁷Their ³legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled ^jlike the color of burnished bronze. ^8kThe hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. ⁹Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight ^lforward.

¹⁰As for ^mthe likeness of their faces, each ⁿhad the face of a man; each of the four had ^othe face of a lion on the right side, ^peach of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, ^qand each of the four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and ^rtwo covered their bodies. ¹²And ^seach one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

¹³As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, ^tlike the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. ¹⁴And the living creatures ran back and forth, ^uin appearance like a flash of lightning.

¹⁵Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, ^va wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. ^16wThe appearance of the wheels and their workings was ^xlike the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. ¹⁷When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. ¹⁸As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were ^yfull of eyes, all around the four of them. ^19zWhen the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. ²⁰Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, ^afor the spirit of the ⁴living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the ⁵living creatures was in the wheels.

^22bThe likeness of the ⁶firmament above the heads of the ⁷living creatures was like the color of an awesome ^ccrystal, stretched out ^dover their heads. ²³And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. ^24eWhen they went, I heard the noise of their wings, ^flike the noise of many waters, like ^gthe voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. ²⁵A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.

^26hAnd above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, ⁱin appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above ^jit. ²⁷Also from the appearance of His waist and upward ^kI saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. ^28lLike the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. ^mThis was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

Ezekiel Sent to Rebellious Israel

So when I saw it, ⁿI fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

2And He said to me, “Son of man, ^astand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” ²Then ^bthe Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. ³And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has ^crebelled against Me; ^dthey and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. ^4eFor they are ¹impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^5fAs for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a ^grebellious house—yet they ^hwill know that a prophet has been among them.

⁶“And you, son of man, ⁱdo not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though ^jbriers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; ^kdo not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, ^lthough they are a rebellious house. ^7mYou shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. ⁸But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ⁿeat what I give you.”

⁹Now when I looked, there was ^oa hand stretched out to me; and behold, ^pa scroll of a book was in it. ¹⁰Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.

3Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; ^aeat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ²So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.

³And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ^bate, and it was in my mouth ^clike honey in sweetness.

⁴Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. ⁵For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, ⁶not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, ^dhad I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷But the house of Israel will not listen to you, ^ebecause they will not listen to Me; ^ffor all the house of Israel are ¹impudent and hard-hearted. ⁸Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. ^9gLike adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; ^hdo not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

¹⁰Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. ¹¹And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ⁱ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.”

¹²Then ^jthe Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the ^kglory of the Lord from His place!” ¹³I also heard the ^lnoise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. ¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the ²heat of my spirit; but ^mthe hand of the Lord was strong upon me. ¹⁵Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and ⁿI sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

Ezekiel is a Watchman

¹⁶Now it ^ocame to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^17p“Son of man, I have made you ^qa watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them ^rwarning from Me: ¹⁸When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man ^sshall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; ^tbut you have delivered your soul.

²⁰“Again, when a ^urighteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”

^22vThen the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out ^winto the plain, and there I shall talk with you.”

²³So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, ^xthe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I ^ysaw by the River Chebar; ^zand I fell on my face. ²⁴Then ^athe Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. ²⁵And you, O son of man, surely ^bthey will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them. ^26cI will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and ^dnot be ³one to rebuke them, ^efor they are a rebellious house. ^27fBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^g‘Thus says the…