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The glory of the Lord had moved off the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; the temple was filled with the cloud, the whole court brilliant with the glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty speaking.(A) He commanded the man dressed in linen: Take fire from within the wheelwork among the cherubim. The man entered and stood by one of the wheels. Thereupon a cherub stretched out a hand from among the cherubim toward the fire in the midst of the cherubim, took some, and put it in the hands of the one dressed in linen. He took it and came out. Something like a human hand was visible under the wings of the cherubim. I also saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub, and the wheels appeared to have the sparkle of yellow topaz. 10 And the appearance of the four all seemed alike, as though one wheel were inside the other. 11 When they moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering as they moved; in whatever direction the first cherub faced, the others followed without veering as they went. 12 Their entire bodies—backs, hands, and wings—and wheels were covered with eyes all around like the four wheels.(B) 13 I heard the wheels called “wheelwork.” 14 Each living creature had four faces: the first a cherub, the second a human being, the third a lion, the fourth an eagle.(C) 15 [a]When the cherubim rose up, they were indeed the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 10:15–19 The throne represents God’s presence as ruler and protector of the land. In chap. 1, God is revealed as the lord of the world who can appear even in a far-off land; here God is about to abandon the Temple, that is, hand the city over to its enemies. God and the throne return again in 43:1–3.