Ezekiel 1-28.
Ezekiel 1:1-28 (Good News Translation)
1On 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. (
2It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken
into exile.)
3There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the
LORD speak to me, and I felt his power.
4I 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.
5At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four
living creatures in human form,
6but each of them had four faces and four wings.
7Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a
bull. They shone like polished bronze.
8In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each
had four human hands, one under each wing.
9Two 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.
10Each 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.
11Two 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.
12Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group
could go wherever they wished, without having to turn.
13Among
the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing
torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of
lightning.
14The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the
speed of lightning.
15As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels
touching the ground, one beside each of them.
16All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious
stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles,
17so that the wheels could move in any of the four
directions.
18The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes.
19Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them,
and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels.
20The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did
exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them.
21So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the
air, the wheels did exactly the same.
22Above the heads of the creatures there was something that
looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal.
23There 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.
24I 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,
25but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over
their heads.
26Above 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.
27The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle
of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light
28that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the
dazzling light which shows the presence of the
LORD.
When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I
heard a voice.
1On 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. (
2It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken
into exile.)
3There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the
LORD speak to me, and I felt his power.
4I 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.
5At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four
living creatures in human form,
6but each of them had four faces and four wings.
7Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a
bull. They shone like polished bronze.
8In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each
had four human hands, one under each wing.
9Two 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.
10Each 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.
11Two 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.
12Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group
could go wherever they wished, without having to turn.
13Among
the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing
torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of
lightning.
14The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the
speed of lightning.
15As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels
touching the ground, one beside each of them.
16All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious
stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles,
17so that the wheels could move in any of the four
directions.
18The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes.
19Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them,
and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels.
20The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did
exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them.
21So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the
air, the wheels did exactly the same.
22Above the heads of the creatures there was something that
looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal.
23There 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.
24I 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,
25but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over
their heads.
26Above 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.
27The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle
of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light
28that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the
dazzling light which shows the presence of the
LORD.
When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I
heard a voice.
God bless you.
Comments