1 It came to passe in the thirtieth yere in the fourth moneth, and in the fift day of the moneth (as I was among the captiues by the riuer Chebar) that the heauens were opened and I sawe visions of GOD. 2 In the fift day of the moneth (which was the fift yere of King Ioiachins captiuitie) 3 The word of the Lord came vnto Ezekiel the Priest, the sonne of Buzi, in the lande of the Caldeans, by the riuer Chebar, where the hande of the Lord was vpon him. 4 And I looked, and beholde, a whirlewinde came out of the North, a great cloude and a fire wrapped about it, and a brightnesse was about it, and in the middes thereof, to wit, in the middes of the fire came out as the likenesse of amber. 5 Also out of the middes therof came the likenesse of foure beastes, and this was their forme: they had the appearance of a man. 6 And euery one had foure faces, and euery one had foure wings. 7 And their feete were streight feete, and the sole of their feete was like the sole of a calues foote, and they sparkled like the appearance of bright brasse. 8 And the handes of a man came out from vnder their wings in the foure parts of them, and they foure had their faces, and their wings. 9 They where ioyned by their wings one to another, and when they went forth, they returned not, but euery one went streight forward. 10 And the similitude of their faces was as the face of a man: and they foure had the face of a lyon on the right side, and they foure had the face of a bullocke on the left side: they foure also had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces: but their wings were spred out aboue: two wings of euery one were ioined one to another, and two couered their bodies. 12 And euery one went streight forward: they went whither their spirit led them, and they returned not when they went forth. 13 The similitude also of the beasts, and their appearance was like burning coles of fire, and like the appearance of lampes: for the fire ran among the beastes, and the fire gaue a glister, and out of the fire there went lightning. 14 And the beastes ranne, and returned like vnto lightning. 15 Nowe as I behelde the beastes, beholde, a wheele appeared vpon the earth by the beastes, hauing foure faces. 16 The facion of the wheeles and their worke was like vnto a chrysolite: and they foure had one forme, and their facion, and their worke was as one wheele in another wheele. 17 Whe they went, they went vpon their foure sides, and they returned not when they went. 18 They had also rings, and height, and were fearefull to beholde, and their rings were full of eyes, round about them foure. 19 And when the beastes went, the wheeles went with them: and when the beasts were lift vp from the earth, the wheeles were lift vp. 20 Whither the spirit led them, they went, and thither did the spirite of the wheeles leade them, and the wheeles were lifted vp besides them: for the spirit of the beastes was in the wheeles. 21 When the beastes went, they went, and when they stoode, they stoode, and when they were lifted vp from the earth, the wheeles were lifted vp besides them: for the spirite of the beastes was in the wheeles. 22 And the similitude of the firmament vpon the heads of the beasts was wonderfull, like vnto chrystall, spred ouer their heads aboue. 23 And vnder the firmament were their wings streight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which couered the, and euery one had two, which couered their bodies. 24 And when they went foorth, I heard the noyse of their wings, like the noyse of great waters, and as the voyce of the Almightie, euen the voyce of speach, as the noyse of an host: and when they stood, they let downe their wings. 25 And there was a voyce from the firmament, that was ouer their heads, when they stoode, and had let downe their wings. 26 And aboue the firmament that was ouer their heads, was the facion of a throne like vnto a saphir stone, and vpon the similitude of the throne was by appearance, as the similitude of a man aboue vpon it. 27 And I sawe as the appearance of amber, and as the similitude of fire round about within it to looke to, euen from his loynes vpwarde: and to looke to, euen from his loynes downewarde, I sawe as a likenesse of fire, and brightnesse round about it. 28 As the likenesse of the bowe, that is in the cloude in the day of raine, so was the appearance of the light round about. 29 This was the appearance of the similitude of the glorie of the Lord: and when I sawe it, I fell vpon my face, and I heard a voyce of one that spake.
EZEKIEL'S FIRST VISION OF GOD (1.1—7.27)
God's Throne
1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. ( 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power.
4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. 5 At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. 8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. 9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies.
10 Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion's face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle's face at the back. 11 Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. 12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn.
13 Among the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning. 14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning.
15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same.
22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. 23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. 24 I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, 25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads.
26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. 27 The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light 28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord.
God Calls Ezekiel to Be a Prophet
When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice