1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth
month, in the fifth
day of the month, as I
was among the captives by the river of Chebar,
that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
2 In the fifth
day of the month, which
was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness
was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
5 Also out of the midst thereof
came the likeness of four living creatures. And this
was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
7 And their feet
were straight feet; and the sole of their feet
was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
8 And
they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
9 Their wings
were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
11 Thus
were their faces: and their wings
were stretched upward; two
wings of every one
were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went;
and they turned not when they went.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance
was like burning coals of fire,
and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their work
was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work
was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17 When they went, they went upon their four sides:
and they turned not when they went.
18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings
were full of eyes round about them four.
19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither
was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature
was in the wheels.
21 When those went,
these went; and when those stood,
these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature
was in the wheels.
22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature
was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament
were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
25 And there was a voice from the firmament that
was over their heads, when they stood,
and had let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that
was over their heads
was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne
was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so
was the appearance of the brightness round about. This
was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw
it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Ezekiel's wheels??? Spaceship??? Uh, no.
