1 Now it came about in the thirtiethyear, on the fifth day of the fourthmonth, while I was by the 1riverChebaramong the exiles, the 2heavens were opened and I saw[a]3visions of God.
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(On the fifth of the month[b]in the 4fifthyear of KingJehoiachin'sexile,
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the 5word of the LORDcameexpressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the 6land of the Chaldeans by the riverChebar; and there7the hand of the LORDcame upon him.)
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As I looked, behold, a 8stormwind was coming from the north, a greatcloud with fireflashingforth continually and a brightlightaround it, and in its midst something like 9glowingmetal in the midst of the fire.
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Within it there were figuresresembling10fourlivingbeings. And this was their appearance: they had human11form.
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Their legs were straight and [c]their feet were like a calf'shoof*, and they gleamed like 14burnishedbronze.
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Under their wings on their 15foursides were human16hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,
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their wingstouchedoneanother; their faces did 17not turn when they moved, each18wentstraight**forward.
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As for the 19form of their faces, each had the 20face of a man; [d]all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and [e]all four had the face of an eagle.
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Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above*; each had twotouchinganother being, and 21twocovering their bodies.
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And 22eachwentstraight**forward; 23wherever** the spirit was about to go, they would go, withoutturning as they went.
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[f]In the midst of the livingbeings there was something that looked like burningcoals of 24fire, [g]liketorchesdartingback and forth among the livingbeings. The fire was bright, and lightning was [h]flashing from the fire.
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And the livingbeings25ran to and frolikebolts of 26lightning.
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Now as I looked at the livingbeings, behold, there was one27wheel on the earthbeside the livingbeings, [i]for each of the four of them.
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The 28appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like [j]sparkling29beryl, and all four of them had the sameform, their appearance and workmanship being as if[k]one wheel were withinanother.
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Whenever they [l]moved, they [m]moved in any of their four[n]directionswithout30turning as they [o]moved.
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As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were 31full of eyesroundabout.
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32Whenever the livingbeings[p]moved, the wheels[q]moved with them. And whenever the livingbeings33rose from the earth, the wheelsrose also.
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34Wherever** the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction[r]. And the wheelsroseclosebeside them; for the spirit of the living[s]beings was in the wheels.
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35Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stoodstill, these stoodstill. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheelsroseclosebeside them; for the spirit of the living[t]beings was in the wheels.
Vision of Divine Glory
22 Now 36over the heads of the living[u]beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesomegleam of [v]crystal, spread out over* their heads.
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Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, onetoward the other; eachone also had 37two wings covering its body on the oneside and on the other.
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I also heard the sound of their wings like the 38sound of abundantwaters as they went, like the 39voice of [w]the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the 40sound of an armycamp; whenever they stoodstill, they dropped their wings.
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And there came a voice from above the 41expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stoodstill, they dropped their wings.
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Now 42above* the expanse that was over their heads there was something43resembling a throne, like [x]44lapis*lazuli* in appearance; and on that whichresembled a throne, high* up, was a figure with the appearance of a 45man.
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Then I [y]noticed from the appearance of His loins and upwardsomething46like [z]glowingmetal that looked like fireallaroundwithin it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I sawsomething like fire; and there was a radiancearound Him.
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As the appearance of the 47rainbow[aa]in the clouds on a rainyday, so was the appearance of the surroundingradiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the 48glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I 49fell on my face and heard a voicespeaking.