Ezekiel 1; Ezekiel 2; Ezekiel 3

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 Then the Lord said to me, "Human, eat what you ind; eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the people of Israel."

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 He said to me, "Human, eat this scroll which I am giving you, and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 Then he said to me, "Human, go to the people of Israel, and speak my words to them.

5 You are not being sent to people whose speech you can't understand, whose language is difficult. You are being sent to Israel.

6 You are not being sent to many nations whose speech you can't understand, whose language is difficult, whose words you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

7 But the people of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me. Yes, all the people of Israel are stubborn and will not obey.

8 See, I now make you as stubborn and as hard as they are.

9 I am making you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don't be afraid of them or be frightened by them, though they are a people who turn against me."

10 Also, he said to me, "Human, believe all the words I will speak to you, and listen carefully to them.

11 Then go to the captives, your own people, and say to them, 'The Lord God says this.' Tell them this whether they listen or not."

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me, saying, "Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven."

13 I heard the wings of the living creatures touching each other and the sound of the wheels by them. It was a loud rumbling sound.

14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I was unhappy and angry, and I felt the great power of the Lord.

15 I came to the captives from Judah, who lived by the Kebar River at Tel Abib. I sat there seven days where these people lived, feeling shocked.

16 After seven days the Lord spoke his word to me again. He said,

17 "Human, I now make you a watchman for Israel. Any time you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me.

18 When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' you must warn them so they may live. If you don't speak out to warn the wicked to stop their evil ways, they will die in their sin. But I will hold you responsible for their death.

19 If you warn the wicked and they do not turn from their wickedness or their evil ways, they will die because of their sin. But you will have saved your life.

20 "Again, those who do right may turn away from doing good and do evil. If I make something bad happen to them, they will die. Because you have not warned them, they will die because of their sin, and the good they did will not be remembered. But I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

21 But if you have warned those good people not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live, because they believed the warning. And you will have saved your life."

22 Then I felt the power of the Lord there. He said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain. There I will speak to you."

23 So I got up and went out to the plain. I saw the glory of the Lord standing there, like the glory I saw by the Kebar River, and I bowed facedown on the ground.

24 Then the Spirit entered me and made me stand on my feet. He spoke to me and said, "Go, shut yourself up in your house.

25 As for you, human, the people will tie you up with ropes so that you will not be able to go out among them.

26 Also, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so you will be silent. You will not be able to argue with the people, even though they turn against me.

27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, 'The Lord God says this.' Those who will listen, let them listen. Those who refuse, let them refuse, because they are a people who turn against me.