Parallel Bible results for "ezekiel 1"

Ezekiel 1

New Living Translation NLT

1 On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

2 This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity.

3 (The LORD gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the LORD take hold of him.)

4 As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber.

5 From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human,

6 except that each had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze.

8 Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings.

9 The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it. Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.

10 Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back.

11 Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body.

12 They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.

13 The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and lightning seemed to flash back and forth among them.

14 And the living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning.

15 As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels touching the ground beside them, one wheel belonging to each.

16 The wheels sparkled as if made of beryl. All four wheels looked alike and were made the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it.

17 The beings could move in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved.

18 The rims of the four wheels were tall and frightening, and they were covered with eyes all around.

19 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. When they flew upward, the wheels went up, too.

20 The spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. So wherever the spirit went, the wheels and the living beings also went.

21 When the beings moved, the wheels moved. When the beings stopped, the wheels stopped. When the beings flew upward, the wheels rose up, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

22 Spread out above them was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal.

23 Beneath this surface the wings of each living being stretched out to touch the others’ wings, and each had two wings covering its body.

24 As they flew, their wings sounded to me like waves crashing against the shore or like the voice of the Almighty or like the shouting of a mighty army. When they stopped, they let down their wings.

25 As they stood with wings lowered, a voice spoke from beyond the crystal surface above them.

26 Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man.

27 From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor.

28 All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the LORD looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.

The Message Bible MSG

1 When I was thirty years of age, I was living with the exiles on the Kebar River. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the sky opened up and I saw visions of God.

2 (It was the fifth day of the month in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin

3 that God's Word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, on the banks of the Kebar River in the country of Babylon. God's hand came upon him that day.)

4 I looked: I saw an immense dust storm come from the north, an immense cloud with lightning flashing from it, a huge ball of fire glowing like bronze.

5 Within the fire were what looked like four creatures vibrant with life. Each had the form of a human being,

6 but each also had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were as sturdy and straight as columns, but their feet were hoofed like those of a calf and sparkled from the fire like burnished bronze.

8 On all four sides under their wings they had human hands. All four had both faces and wings,

9 with the wings touching one another. They turned neither one way nor the other; they went straight forward.

10 Their faces looked like this: In front a human face, on the right side the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, and in back the face of an eagle.

11 So much for the faces. The wings were spread out with the tips of one pair touching the creature on either side; the other pair of wings covered its body.

12 Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit went, they went. They didn't turn as they went.

13 The four creatures looked like a blazing fire, or like fiery torches. Tongues of fire shot back and forth between the creatures, and out of the fire, bolts of lightning.

14 The creatures flashed back and forth like strikes of lightning.

15 As I watched the four creatures, I saw something that looked like a wheel on the ground beside each of the four-faced creatures.

16 This is what the wheels looked like: They were identical wheels, sparkling like diamonds in the sun. It looked like they were wheels within wheels, like a gyroscope.

17 They went in any one of the four directions they faced, but straight, not veering off.

18 The rims were immense, circled with eyes.

19 When the living creatures went, the wheels went; when the living creatures lifted off, the wheels lifted off.

20 Wherever the spirit went, they went, the wheels sticking right with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When the creatures went, the wheels went; when the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; when the creatures lifted off, the wheels lifted off, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22 Over the heads of the living creatures was something like a dome, shimmering like a sky full of cut glass, vaulted over their heads.

23 Under the dome one set of wings was extended toward the others, with another set of wings covering their bodies.

24 When they moved I heard their wings - it was like the roar of a great waterfall, like the voice of The Strong God, like the noise of a battlefield. When they stopped, they folded their wings.

25 And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads.

26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne.

27 From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere!

28 The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day - that's what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God! When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground. Then I heard a voice.