Ezekiels Inaugural Vision

1 In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the ffth

day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar Rier,
the heaens were o!ened and I saw isions of "od#
$ %n the ffth of the month&it was the ffth year of
the exile of King 'ehoia(hin& ) the word of the *%R+
(ame to Ezekiel the !riest, the son of ,uzi, by the
Kebar Rier in the land of the ,abylonians#-a. /here
the hand of the *%R+ was on him#
0 I looked, and I saw a windstorm (oming out of the
north&an immense (loud with 1ashing lightning and
surrounded by brilliant light# /he (enter of the fre
looked like glowing metal, 2 and in the fre was what
looked like four liing (reatures# In a!!earan(e their
form was human, 3 but ea(h of them had four fa(es
and four wings# 4 /heir legs were straight5 their feet
were like those of a (alf and gleamed like burnished
bronze# 6 7nder their wings on their four sides they
had human hands# 8ll four of them had fa(es and
wings, 9 and the wings of one tou(hed the wings of
another# Ea(h one went straight ahead5 they did not
turn as they moed#
1: /heir fa(es looked like this; Ea(h of the four had
the fa(e of a human being, and on the right side
ea(h had the fa(e of a lion, and on the left the fa(e
of an ox5 ea(h also had the fa(e of an eagle# 11 <u(h
were their fa(es# /hey ea(h had two wings s!reading
out u!ward, ea(h wing tou(hing that of the (reature
on either side5 and ea(h had two other wings
(oering its body# 1$ Ea(h one went straight ahead#
=hereer the s!irit would go, they would go, without
turning as they went# 1) /he a!!earan(e of the liing
(reatures was like burning (oals of fre or like
tor(hes# >ire moed ba(k and forth among the
(reatures5 it was bright, and lightning 1ashed out of
it# 10 /he (reatures s!ed ba(k and forth like 1ashes
of lightning#
12 8s I looked at the liing (reatures, I saw a wheel
on the ground beside ea(h (reature with its four
fa(es# 13 /his was the a!!earan(e and stru(ture of
the wheels; /hey s!arkled like to!az, and all four
looked alike# Ea(h a!!eared to be made like a wheel
interse(ting a wheel# 14 8s they moed, they would
go in any one of the four dire(tions the (reatures
fa(ed5 the wheels did not (hange dire(tion as the
(reatures went# 16 /heir rims were high and
awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all
around#
19 =hen the liing (reatures moed, the wheels
beside them moed5 and when the liing (reatures
rose from the ground, the wheels also rose# $:
=hereer the s!irit would go, they would go, and the
wheels would rise along with them, be(ause the s!irit
of the liing (reatures was in the wheels# $1 =hen
the (reatures moed, they also moed5 when the
(reatures stood still, they also stood still5 and when
the (reatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose
along with them, be(ause the s!irit of the liing
(reatures was in the wheels#
$$ <!read out aboe the heads of the liing
(reatures was what looked something like a ault,
s!arkling like (rystal, and awesome# $) 7nder the
ault their wings were stret(hed out one toward the
other, and ea(h had two wings (oering its body# $0
=hen the (reatures moed, I heard the sound of their
wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the oi(e
of the 8lmighty,-b. like the tumult of an army# =hen
they stood still, they lowered their wings#
$2 /hen there (ame a oi(e from aboe the ault
oer their heads as they stood with lowered wings#
$3 8boe the ault oer their heads was what looked
like a throne of la!is lazuli, and high aboe on the
throne was a fgure like that of a man# $4 I saw that
from what a!!eared to be his waist u! he looked like
glowing metal, as if full of fre, and that from there
down he looked like fre5 and brilliant light
surrounded him# $6 *ike the a!!earan(e of a rainbow
in the (louds on a rainy day, so was the radian(e
around him#
/his was the a!!earan(e of the likeness of the glory
of the *%R+# =hen I saw it, I fell fa(edown, and I
heard the oi(e of one s!eaking#
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