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Ezekiel 1:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Ezekiel 1:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Call of the Prophet[a]
Chapter 1
The Vision of Four Living Creatures.[b] 1 [c]In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions. 2 On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— 3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar. There the hand of the Lord was upon him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 1:1 Ezekiel, a priest of Jerusalem, is torn away from the temple and the worship that he loves, and joins the caravan of deportees whom Nebuchadnezzar drags off to Babylon after the first capitulation of Jerusalem in 598 B.C. At this time, Ezekiel is a contemporary of Jeremiah and has insight into the evils that are coming. The prophet denounces the infidelity of the people. Moreover, he cannot accept any longer the ancient idea of collective responsibility. He seeks rather to point out the personal responsibility of each individual.
- Ezekiel 1:1 During a vision that reminds us of the prophet Isaiah’s vision (Isa 6:1-13), Ezekiel, the poor “son of man,” is abruptly placed in the presence of the glory of the Lord. He suddenly understands the holiness of the God who seeks his people, even in exile, there on the banks of the Kebar. He understands, too, the tragic fate of this people whose sin can be removed only by being burned in fire (Deut 4:24; Isa 33:14; Heb 12:29).
- Ezekiel 1:1 We are introduced to an amazing narrative that is difficult to read because numerous additions have been made to the original version, either by the prophet himself or by one of his disciples. This can be seen even in these first three verses. Kebar is a wide, navigable canal of water leading from the Euphrates in Babylonia.
