Ezekiel 1

New American Standard Bible

The Vision of Four Figures

1 Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the ^(A)river Chebar among the exiles, the ^(B)heavens were opened and I saw ^[a](C)visions of God. ² (On the fifth of the month ^[b]in the ^(D)fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, ³ the ^(E)word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the ^(F)land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there ^(G)the hand of the Lord came upon him.)

⁴ As I looked, behold, a ^(H)high wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing intermittently and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like ^(I)gleaming ^[c]metal in the midst of the fire. ⁵ And within it there were figures resembling ^(J)four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human ^(K)form. ⁶ Each of them had ^(L)four faces and ^(M)four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight and ^[d]their feet were like a calf’s ^[e]hoof, and they sparkled like ^(N)polished bronze. ⁸ Under their wings on their ^(O)four sides were human ^(P)hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, ⁹ their wings touched one another; their faces did ^(Q)not turn when they moved, each ^(R)went straight forward. ¹⁰ As for the ^(S)form of their faces, each had a human ^(T)face; ^[f]all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and ^[g]all four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and ^(U)two covering their bodies. ¹² And ^(V)each went straight forward; ^(W)wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. ^13 [h]In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of ^(X)fire, ^[i]like torches moving among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was ^[j]flashing from the fire. ¹⁴ And the living beings ^(Y)ran back and forth like bolts of ^(Z)lightning.

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one ^(AA)wheel on the ground beside the living beings, for ^[k]each of the four of them. ¹⁶ The ^(AB)appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like ^[l]sparkling ^(AC)topaz, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if ^[m]one wheel were within another. ¹⁷ Whenever they ^[n]moved, they ^[o]moved in any of their four ^[p]directions without ^(AD)turning as they ^[q]moved. ¹⁸ As for their rims, they were high and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were ^[r](AE)covered with eyes all around. ^19 (AF)Whenever the living beings ^[s]moved, the wheels ^[t]moved with them. And whenever the living beings ^(AG)rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. ^20 (AH)Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction^[u]. And the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living ^[v]beings was in the wheels. ^21 (AI)Whenever those went, they went; and whenever those stopped, they stopped. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living ^[w]beings was in the wheels.

Vision of Divine Glory

²² Now ^(AJ)over the heads of the living ^[x]beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads. ²³ Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had ^(AK)two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. ²⁴ And I also heard the sound of their wings, like the ^(AL)sound of abundant waters as they went, like the ^(AM)voice of ^[y]the Almighty, a sound of a crowd like the ^(AN)sound of an army camp; whenever they stopped, they let down their wings. ²⁵ And a voice came from above the ^(AO)expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶ Now ^(AP)above the expanse that was over their heads there was something ^(AQ)resembling a throne, like ^[z](AR)lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a ^(AS)man. ²⁷ Then I ^[aa]noticed from the appearance of His waist and upward something ^(AT)like gleaming ^[ab]metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. ²⁸ Like the appearance of the ^(AU)rainbow ^[ac]in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the ^(AV)glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I ^(AW)fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.