Ezekiel 1:1-14

1Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

2On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,

3the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

4Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

5Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

6Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.

7Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.

8The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.

9Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.

10As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle.

11Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies.

12And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.

14And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning.