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 the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions1:1 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Syr., Tg. a vision of 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 1:3 Or Babylonians, and so elsewhere in the bookChaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

4Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out 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.

5Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

6Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.

7Their 1:7 Lit. feetlegs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.

8The 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 forward.

10As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and 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 two covered their bodies.

12And each 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, like 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, in appearance like a flash of lightning.

15Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.

16The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like 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 full of eyes, all around the four of them.

19When 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, for the spirit of the 1:20 Lit. living creature; LXX, Vg. spirit of life; Tg. creaturesliving 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 1:21 See note at v. 20living creatures was in the wheels.

22The likeness of the 1:22 Or expansefirmament above the heads of the 1:22 So with LXX, Tg., Vg.; MT living creatureliving creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over 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.

24When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the 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.

26And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.

27Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I 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.

28Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.