1:1 Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw ①visions of God.
▷ ①Some ancient versions a vision
1:2 (On the fifth of the month ①in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile,
▷ ①Lit it was
1:3 the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of the LORD came upon him.)
1:4 As I looked, behold, a 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 gleaming ①metal in the midst of the fire.
▷ ①Heb uncertain; Gr indicates a gold and silver alloy
1:5 And within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.
1:6 Each of them had four faces and four wings.
1:7 Their legs were straight and ①their feet were like a calf’s ②hoof, and they sparkled like polished bronze.
▷ ①Lit the sole of their feet ②Lit sole of a foot
1:8 Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,
1:9 their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.
1:10 As for the form of their faces, each had a human face; ①all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and ②all four had the face of an eagle.
▷ ①Lit the four of them ②Lit the four of them
1:11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.
1:12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.
1:13 ①In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, ②like torches moving among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was ③flashing from the fire.
▷ ①Lit going out ②As in some ancient versions; MT And the likeness of the living beings ③Lit like the appearance of
1:14 And the living beings ran back and forth like bolts of lightning.
1:15 Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the ground beside the living beings, for ①each of the four of them.
▷ ①Lit his four faces
1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like ①sparkling topaz, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if ②one wheel were within another.
▷ ①Or the look of topaz ②Lit the wheel in the midst of the wheel
1:17 Whenever they ①moved, they ②moved in any of their four ③directions without turning as they ④moved.
▷ ①Lit went ②Lit went ③Lit sides ④Lit went
1:18 As for their rims, they were high and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were ①covered with eyes all around.
▷ ①Lit full of
1:19 Whenever the living beings ①moved, the wheels ②moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.
▷ ①Lit went ②Lit went
1:20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction ①. And the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living ②beings was in the wheels.
▷ ①MT adds the spirit to go ②MT being
1:21 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 ①beings was in the wheels.
▷ ①MT being
1:22 Now over the heads of the living ①beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads.
▷ ①As in some mss and ancient versions; MT being
1:23 Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.
1:24 And I also heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of ①the Almighty, a sound of a crowd like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stopped, they let down their wings.
▷ ①Heb Shaddai
1:25 And a voice came from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.
1:26 Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like ①lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.
▷ ①Heb eben-sappir
1:27 Then I ①noticed from the appearance of His waist and upward something like gleaming ②metal 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.
▷ ①Lit saw ②See note v 4
1:28 Like the appearance of the rainbow ①in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.
▷ ①Lit which occurs in