Ezekiel 1

New King James Version

Ezekiel’s Vision of God

1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourthmonth,on the fifthdayof the month, as Iwasamong the captives by^(A)the River Chebar,that^(B)the heavens were opened and I saw^(C)visions^[a]of God.² On the fifthdayof the month, whichwasin the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,³ the word of theLordcame expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the^[b]Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and^(D)the hand of theLordwas upon him there.

⁴ Then I looked, and behold,^(E)a whirlwind was coming^(F)out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightnesswasall around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.^5 (G)Also from within itcamethe likeness of four living creatures. And^(H)thiswastheir appearance: they had^(I)the likeness of a man.⁶ Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.⁷ Their^[c]legswerestraight, and the soles of their feetwerelike the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled^(J)like the color of burnished bronze.^8 (K)The hands of a manwereunder their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.⁹ Their wings touched one another.The creaturesdid not turn when they went, but each one went straight^(L)forward.

¹⁰ As for^(M)the likeness of their faces,each^(N)had the face of a man; each of the four had^(O)the face of a lion on the right side,^(P)each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side,^(Q)and each of the four had the face of an eagle.¹¹ Thusweretheir faces. Their wings stretched upward; twowingsof each one touched one another, and^(R)two covered their bodies.¹² And^(S)each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearancewaslike burning coals of fire,^(T)like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.¹⁴ And the living creatures ran back and forth,^(U)in appearance like a flash of lightning.

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold,^(V)a wheelwason the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.^16 (W)The appearance of the wheels and their workingswas^(X)like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workingswas,as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.¹⁷ When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.¹⁸ As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rimswere^(Y)full of eyes, all around the four of them.^19 (Z)When 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.²⁰ Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went,becausethere the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them,^(AA)for the spirit of the^[d]living creatureswasin the wheels.²¹ When those went,thesewent; when those stood,thesestood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the^[e]living creatureswasin the wheels.

^22 (AB)The likeness of the^[f]firmament above the heads of the^[g]living creatureswaslike the color of an awesome^(AC)crystal, stretched out^(AD)over their heads.²³ And under the firmament their wingsspread outstraight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body.^24 (AE)When they went, I heard the noise of their wings,^(AF)like the noise of many waters, like^(AG)the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.²⁵ A voice came from above the firmament thatwasover their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.

^26 (AH)And above the firmament over their headswasthe likeness of a throne,^(AI)in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the thronewasa likeness with the appearance of a man high above^(AJ)it.²⁷ Also from the appearance of His waist and upward^(AK)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.^28 (AL)Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, sowasthe appearance of the brightness all around it.^(AM)Thiswasthe appearance of the likeness of the glory of theLord.

Ezekiel Sent to Rebellious Israel

So when I sawit,^(AN)I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.