in the fifth day of the month, which was thefifth year of king jehoiachin's captivity, the word of the lord came expressly unto ezekielthe priest, the son of buzi, in the land of the chaldeans by the river chebar; and thehand of the lord was there upon him. now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in thefourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as i was among the captives by the river ofchebar, that the heavens were opened, and i saw visions of god. and i looked, and, behold,a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and abrightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of themidst of the fire. also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures.and this was their appearance; they had the
likeness of a man. and every one had fourfaces, and every one had four wings. and they had the hands of a man under their wings ontheir four sides; as for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, andthe face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the leftside; they four also had the face of an eagle. thus were their faces: and their wings werestretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two coveredtheir bodies. and their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was likethe sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. and their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, were full of eyes round about.
as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals offire, like the appearance of torches: and the living creatures ran and returned as theappearance of a flash of lightning. when they stood, they let down their wings. and whenthey went, i heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voiceof the almighty, a tumultuous noise, as the noise of a host: this is the living creaturethat i saw under the god of israel by the river of chebar; and i knew that they werethe cherubims. and i looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was as the look of a chrysolite stone. and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
as for their rims, they were high and dreadful and they four had their rims full of eyes round about. when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were liftedup from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. wherever the spirit was to go, they went;there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spiritof the living creature was in the wheels. when they went, they went in their four directions:they didn't turn as they went,but to the place where the head looked they followed it; and i heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. as for the wheels,they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels.
in among the wheels, between thecherubim, were burning coals of fire. the fire went up and down among the living creatures;and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above. above the expanse that was over their headswas the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness ofthe throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. i saw as it were glowingmetal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loinsand upward; and from the appearance of his loins and downward i saw as it werethe appearance of fire, and there was brightness
round about him. as the appearance of thebow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightnessaround. this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord.... when i saw it, i fell on my face, and i heard a voice of one that spoke....
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