Ezekiel 1; Ezekiel 2; Hebrews 11:1-19

1 It was the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month of our captivity. I was by the Kebar River among the people who had been carried away as captives. The sky opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 It was the fifth day of the month of the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been a prisoner.

3 The Lord spoke his word to Ezekiel son of Buzi in the land of the Babylonians by the Kebar River. There he felt the power of the Lord.

4 When I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming from the north. There was a great cloud with a bright light around it and fire flashing out of it. Something that looked like glowing metal was in the center of the fire.

5 Inside the cloud was what looked like four living creatures, who were shaped like humans,

6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight. Their feet were like a calf's hoofs and sparkled like polished bronze.

8 The living creatures had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings,

9 and their wings touched each other. The living creatures did not turn when they moved, but each went straight ahead.

10 Their faces looked like this: Each living creature had a human face and the face of a lion on the right side and the face of an ox on the left side. And each one also had the face of an eagle.

11 That was what their faces looked like. Their wings were spread out above. Each had two wings that touched one of the other living creatures and two wings that covered its body.

12 Each went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, the living creatures would also go, without turning.

13 The living creatures looked like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire went back and forth among the living creatures. It was bright, and lightning flashed from it.

14 The living creatures ran back and forth like bolts of lightning.

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground by each of the living creatures with its four faces.

16 The wheels and the way they were made were like this: They looked like sparkling chrysolite. All four of them looked the same, like one wheel crossways inside another wheel.

17 When they moved, they went in any one of the four directions, without turning as they went.

18 The rims of the wheels were high and frightening and were full of eyes all around.

19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the living creatures were lifted up from the ground, the wheels also were lifted up.

20 Wherever the spirit would go, the living creatures would go. And the wheels were lifted up beside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved. When the living creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. And when the living creatures were lifted from the ground, the wheels were lifted beside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22 Now, over the heads of the living creatures was something like a dome that sparkled like ice and was frightening.

23 And under the dome the wings of the living creatures were stretched out straight toward one another. Each living creature also had two wings covering its body.

24 I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring sound of the sea, as they moved. It was like the voice of God Almighty, a roaring sound like a noisy army. When the living creatures stopped, they lowered their wings.

25 A voice came from above the dome over the heads of the living creatures. When the living creatures stopped, they lowered their wings.

26 Now above the dome there was something that looked like a throne. It looked like a sapphire gem. And on the throne was a shape like a human.

27 Then I noticed that from the waist up the shape looked like glowing metal with fire inside. From the waist down it looked like fire, and a bright light was all around.

28 The surrounding glow looked like the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. It seemed to look like the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I bowed facedown on the ground and heard a voice speaking.

1 He said to me, "Human, stand up on your feet so I may speak with you."

2 While he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. Then I heard the Lord speaking to me.

3 He said, "Human, I am sending you to the people of Israel. That nation has turned against me and broken away from me. They and their ancestors have sinned against me until this very day.

4 I am sending you to people who are stubborn and who do not obey. You will say to them, 'This is what the Lord God says.'

5 They may listen, or they may not, since they are a people who have turned against me. But they will know that a prophet has been among them.

6 You, human, don't be afraid of the people or their words. Even though they may be like thorny branches and stickers all around you, and though you may feel like you live with poisonous insects, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of their words or their looks, because they are a people who turn against me.

7 But speak my words to them. They may listen, or they may not, because they turn against me.

8 But you, human, listen to what I say to you. Don't turn against me as those people do. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you."

9 Then I looked and saw a hand stretched out to me, and a scroll was in it.

10 He opened the scroll in front of me. Funeral songs, sad writings, and words about troubles were written on the front and back.

1 Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.

2 Faith is the reason we remember great people who lived in the past.

3 It is by faith we understand that the whole world was made by God's command so what we see was made by something that cannot be seen.

4 It was by faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God said he was pleased with the gifts Abel offered and called Abel a good man because of his faith. Abel died, but through his faith he is still speaking.

5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken to heaven so he would not die. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. Before he was taken, the Scripture says that he was a man who truly pleased God.

6 Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him.

7 It was by faith that Noah heard God's warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.

8 It was by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go.

9 It was by faith that he lived like a foreigner in the country God promised to give him. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had received that same promise from God.

10 Abraham was waiting for the city that has real foundations -- the city planned and built by God.

11 He was too old to have children, and Sarah could not have children. It was by faith that Abraham was made able to become a father, because he trusted God to do what he had promised.

12 This man was so old he was almost dead, but from him came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. Like the sand on the seashore, they could not be counted.

13 All these great people died in faith. They did not get the things that God promised his people, but they saw them coming far in the future and were glad. They said they were like visitors and strangers on earth.

14 When people say such things, they show they are looking for a country that will be their own.

15 If they had been thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back.

16 But they were waiting for a better country -- a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.

17 It was by faith that Abraham, when God tested him, offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice. God made the promises to Abraham, but Abraham was ready to offer his own son as a sacrifice.

18 God had said, "The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac."

19 Abraham believed that God could raise the dead, and really, it was as if Abraham got Isaac back from death.