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The glory of the Lord had moved off the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; the temple was filled with the cloud, the whole court brilliant with the glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty speaking.(A) He commanded the man dressed in linen: Take fire from within the wheelwork among the cherubim. The man entered and stood by one of the wheels. Thereupon a cherub stretched out a hand from among the cherubim toward the fire in the midst of the cherubim, took some, and put it in the hands of the one dressed in linen. He took it and came out. Something like a human hand was visible under the wings of the cherubim. I also saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub, and the wheels appeared to have the sparkle of yellow topaz. 10 And the appearance of the four all seemed alike, as though one wheel were inside the other. 11 When they moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering as they moved; in whatever direction the first cherub faced, the others followed without veering as they went. 12 Their entire bodies—backs, hands, and wings—and wheels were covered with eyes all around like the four wheels.(B) 13 I heard the wheels called “wheelwork.” 14 Each living creature had four faces: the first a cherub, the second a human being, the third a lion, the fourth an eagle.(C) 15 [a]When the cherubim rose up, they were indeed the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 10:15–19 The throne represents God’s presence as ruler and protector of the land. In chap. 1, God is revealed as the lord of the world who can appear even in a far-off land; here God is about to abandon the Temple, that is, hand the city over to its enemies. God and the throne return again in 43:1–3.

Then the glory of the Lord(A) rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice(B) of God Almighty[a] when he speaks.(C)

When the Lord commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels,(D) from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire(E) that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.)(F)

I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like topaz.(G) 10 As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 11 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about[b] as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. 12 Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes,(H) as were their four wheels.(I) 13 I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.” 14 Each of the cherubim(J) had four faces:(K) One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion,(L) and the fourth the face of an eagle.(M)

15 Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures(N) I had seen by the Kebar River.(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 10:5 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  2. Ezekiel 10:11 Or aside