Ezekiel 10:1–11:25
The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple
10 Then I looked, and behold, xon the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ylike a sapphire,1 in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to zthe man clothed in linen, “Go in among athe whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with bburning coals from between the cherubim, and cscatter them over the city.”
And he went in dbefore my eyes. 3 Now the cherubim were standing eon the south side of the house, when the man went in, and fa cloud filled gthe inner court. 4 And hthe glory of the Lord iwent up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house fwas filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with jthe brightness of the glory of the Lord. 5 And kthe sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, klike the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6 And when he commanded lthe man clothed in linen, m“Take fire from between nthe whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have othe form of a human hand under their wings.
9 pAnd I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and qthe appearance of the wheels was rlike sparkling sberyl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 tWhen they went, they went in any of their four directions2 uwithout turning as they went, vbut in whatever direction the front wheel3 faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 wAnd their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,4 and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing n“the whirling wheels.” 14 xAnd every one had four faces: ythe first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was za human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 aAnd the cherubim mounted up. These were bthe living creatures that I saw by cthe Chebar canal. 16 dAnd when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And dwhen the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 eWhen they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures5 was in them.
18 fThen gthe glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 hAnd the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ibefore my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the jeast gate of the house of the Lord, and kthe glory of the God of Israel was over them.
20 lThese were the living creatures that I saw munderneath the God of Israel by nthe Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 oEach had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings pthe likeness of human hands. 22 qAnd as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. rEach one of them went straight forward.
11 sThe Spirit lifted me up and brought me to tthe east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were utwenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah vthe son of Azzur, and wPelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 And he said to me, x“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 ywho say, z‘The time is not near1 to build houses. aThis city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”
5 And bthe Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. cFor I know the things that come into your mind. 6 dYou have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: eYour slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, athey are the meat, and athis city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. 8 fYou have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. 9 And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and ggive you into the hands of foreigners, and hexecute judgments upon you. 10 iYou shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, jand you shall know that I am the Lord. 11 kThis city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, 12 and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, lbut have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”
13 And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, mthat nPelatiah the son of Benaiah died. oThen I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, o“Ah, Lord God! pWill you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”
14 And the word of the Lord came to me: 15 q“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,2 the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, r‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet sI have been a sanctuary to them for a while3 in the countries where they have gone.’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: tI will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, tand I will give you the land of Israel.’ 18 And when they come there, uthey will remove from it all its vdetestable things and all its abominations. 19 wAnd I will give them one heart, and xa new spirit I will put within them. yI will remove the heart of stone from their flesh zand give them a heart of flesh, 20 athat they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. bAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 cBut as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, dI will4 bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”
22 eThen the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, eand the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and fstood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24 gAnd the Spirit lifted me up and brought me hin the vision by the Spirit of God iinto Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.