1 And it comes to pass, in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], on the fifth of the month, and I [am] in the midst of the expulsion by the river Chebar, the heavens have been opened, and I see visions of God. 2 In the fifth of the month—it is the fifth year of the expulsion of King Jehoiachin— 3 the word of YHWH has certainly been to Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of YHWH. 4 And I look, and behold, a turbulent wind is coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire catching itself, and brightness to it all around, and out of its midst as the color of electrum, out of the midst of the fire. 5 And out of its midst [is] a likeness of four living creatures, and this [is] their appearance; a likeness of man [is] to them, 6 and each had four faces and each of them had four wings, 7 and their feet [are] straight feet, and the sole of their feet [is] as a sole of a calf’s foot, and they are sparkling as the color of bright bronze; 8 and on their four sides [each had] hands of man under their wings; and [each] of the four had their faces and their wings; 9 their wings [are] joining to one another, they do not turn around in their going, they each go straight forward. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, [each had] the face of a man, and toward the right the four had the face of a lion, and on the left the four had the face of an ox, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 And their faces and their wings dividing from above, of each [are] two joining together, and two are covering their bodies. 12 And they each go straight forward, to where the Spirit is to go, they go, they do not turn around in their going. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearances [are] as coals of fire—burning as the appearance of lamps; it is going up and down between the living creatures, and brightness [is] to the fire, and lightning is going forth out of the fire. 14 And the living creatures are running, and turning back, as the appearance of the flash. 15 And I see the living creatures, and behold, one wheel [is] in the earth, near the living creatures, at its four faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their works [is] as the color of beryl, and the four of them had one likeness, and their appearances and their works [are] as it were the wheel in the midst of the wheel. 17 On their four sides, in their going they go, they do not turn around in their going. 18 As for their rings, they are both high and fearful, and their rings, of the four of them, [are] full of eyes around them. 19 And in the going of the living creatures, the wheels go beside them, and in the living creatures being lifted up from off the earth, the wheels are lifted up. 20 To where the Spirit is to go, they go, there the Spirit [is] to go, and the wheels are lifted up alongside them, for a living spirit [is] in the wheels. 21 In their going, they go; and in their standing, they stand; and in their being lifted up from off the earth, the wheels are lifted up alongside them; for a living spirit [is] in the wheels. 22 And over the heads of the living creatures—a likeness of an expanse, as the color of the fearful ice, stretched out over their heads from above. 23 And under the expanse their wings [are] straight, one toward [its] sister; two [wings] of each are covering them, and two [wings] of each are covering their bodies. 24 And I hear the noise of their wings, as the noise of many waters, as the noise of the Mighty One, in their going—the noise of tumult, as the noise of a camp, in their standing they let their wings fall. 25 And there is a voice from above the expanse, that [is] above their head: in their standing they let their wings fall. 26 And above the expanse that [is] over their head, as an appearance of a sapphire stone, [is] the likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne a likeness, as the appearance of man on it from above. 27 And I see as the color of electrum, as the appearance of fire all around within it, from the appearance of His loins and upward; and from the appearance of His loins and downward, I have seen as the appearance of fire, and brightness [is] all around Him. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so [is] the appearance of the brightness all around.
Ezekiel · Literal Standard Version
Ezekiel 1 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Buzi
Ezekiel
The priest, son of Buzi, among the exiles by the Chebar Canal to whom the word of the LORD came.
Cited in the guide: Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 24:24
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Matthew 3:16; Acts 7:56; Revelation 19:11; Ezekiel 11:24; Revelation 4:1
- 2 2 Kings 24:12–15; Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 20:1; Ezekiel 40:1; Ezekiel 29:17
- 3 Ezekiel 3:22; Ezekiel 3:14; 2 Kings 3:15; 1 Kings 18:46; Ezekiel 8:1
- 4 Ezekiel 1:27; Ezekiel 8:2; Jeremiah 23:19; Jeremiah 1:13–14; Isaiah 21:1
- 5 Revelation 4:6–8; Revelation 6:6; Ezekiel 1:26
- 6 Ezekiel 10:14; Ezekiel 10:21–22; Ezekiel 1:8–11; Isaiah 6:2; Exodus 25:20
- 7 Revelation 1:15; Daniel 10:6; Ezekiel 1:13; Psalm 104:4; Leviticus 11:47
- 8 Ezekiel 10:21; Ezekiel 10:18; Ezekiel 10:11; Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 10:2
- 9 Ezekiel 10:22; Ezekiel 1:11–12; Luke 9:62; 2 Chronicles 3:11–12; 1 Corinthians 1:10
- 10 Ezekiel 10:14; Revelation 4:7; 1 Corinthians 9:9–10; Luke 15:10; Deuteronomy 28:49
- 11 Isaiah 6:2; Ezekiel 1:23; Ezekiel 10:16; Ezekiel 10:19
- 12 Ezekiel 1:9; Ezekiel 1:20–21; Ezekiel 10:22; Hebrews 1:14; Ezekiel 1:17
- 13 Psalm 104:4; Revelation 4:5; Revelation 10:1; Daniel 10:5–6; Matthew 28:3
- 14 Zechariah 4:10; Matthew 24:27; Daniel 9:21; Mark 13:27; Luke 17:24
- 15 Daniel 7:9; Ezekiel 10:9; Ezekiel 1:19–21; Revelation 4:7; Ezekiel 1:6
- 16 Daniel 10:6; Ezekiel 10:9–11; Psalm 40:5; Psalm 36:6; Exodus 39:13
- 17 Ezekiel 1:9; Ezekiel 1:12; Ezekiel 10:1–11; Isaiah 55:11
- 18 Ezekiel 10:12; Revelation 4:6; Revelation 4:8; Psalm 97:2–5; Psalm 77:16–19
- 19 Ezekiel 10:16; Ezekiel 10:19; Psalm 103:20
- 20 Ezekiel 1:12; Ezekiel 10:17; 1 Corinthians 14:32; Zechariah 6:1–8
- 21 Ezekiel 10:17; Ezekiel 1:19–20; Romans 8:2
- 22 Ezekiel 10:1; Ezekiel 1:26; Revelation 4:6; Job 37:22; Exodus 24:10
- 23 Psalm 89:7; Ezekiel 1:24; Job 4:18; Ezekiel 1:11–12; Luke 17:10
- 24 Ezekiel 43:2; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 1:15; Psalm 29:3–9; Revelation 19:6
- 25 Ezekiel 1:22
- 26 Ezekiel 10:1; Exodus 24:10; Revelation 1:13; Daniel 10:18; Ezekiel 1:22
- 27 Ezekiel 1:4; Ezekiel 8:2; Hebrews 12:29; Psalm 97:2; Psalm 50:3
- 28 Revelation 10:1; Revelation 4:3; Genesis 17:3; Ezekiel 3:23; Exodus 24:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
He saw the likeness of the glory of the Lord; not the Lord Himself, but the likeness of His glory, not the glory itself, as it really is.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… Ezekiel the Prophet even made a description of them, as far as was possible, saying that every one has four faces, one of a man, another of a lion, another of an eagle, and another of a calf; and that each one had six wings, and they had eyes on all sides; and that under each one was a …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)