Ezekiel 1

Wheels Within Wheels, Like a Gyroscope

1When I was thirty years of age, I was living with the exiles on the Kebar River. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the sky opened up and I saw visions of God.H7970H8141H7243H2568H2320H8432H1473H5104H3529H8064H6605H7200H4759H4302(It was the fifth day of the month in the fifth year of the exile of King JehoiachinH2568H2320H2549H8141H4428H3112H15463that GOD's Word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, on the banks of the Kebar River in the country of Babylon. GOD's hand came upon him that day.)H1697H3068H3168H3548H1121H941H776H3778H5104H3529H3027H30684I looked: I saw an immense dust storm come from the north, an immense cloud with lightning flashing from it, a huge ball of fire glowing like bronze.H7200H7307H5591H935H6828H1419H6051H784H3947H5051H5439H8432H5869H2830H8432H7845Within the fire were what looked like four creatures vibrant with life. Each had the form of a human being,H8432H1823H702H2416H4758H2007H1823H1206but each also had four faces and four wings.H259H702H6440H259H702H36717Their legs were as sturdy and straight as columns, but their feet were hoofed like those of a calf and sparkled from the fire like burnished bronze.H7272H3477H7272H3709H7272H3709H5695H7272H5340H5869H7044H51788On all four sides under their wings they had human hands. All four had both faces and wings,H3027H120H3671H702H7253H702H6440H36719with the wings touching one another. They turned neither one way nor the other; they went straight forward.H3671H2266H802H269H5437H3212H3212H376H5676H644010Their faces looked like this: In front a human face, on the right side the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, and in back the face of an eagle.H1823H6440H702H6440H120H6440H738H3225H702H6440H7794H8040H702H6440H540411So much for the faces. The wings were spread out with the tips of one pair touching the creature on either side; the other pair of wings covered its body.H6440H3671H6504H4605H8147H376H2266H376H376H8147H3680H147212Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit went, they went. They didn't turn as they went.H3212H376H5676H6440H7307H3212H3212H5437H321213The four creatures looked like a blazing fire, or like fiery torches. Tongues of fire shot back and forth between the creatures, and out of the fire, bolts of lightning.H1823H2416H4758H1197H1513H784H4758H3940H1980H2416H784H5051H784H3318H130014The creatures flashed back and forth like strikes of lightning.H2416H7519H7725H4758H96515As I watched the four creatures, I saw something that looked like a wheel on the ground beside each of the four-faced creatures.H7200H2416H259H212H776H681H2416H702H644016This is what the wheels looked like: They were identical wheels, sparkling like diamonds in the sun. It looked like they were wheels within wheels, like a gyroscope.H4758H212H4639H5869H8658H702H259H1823H4758H4639H212H8432H21217They went in any one of the four directions they faced, but straight, not veering off.H3212H3212H702H7253H5437H321218The rims were immense, circled with eyes.H1354H1363H3374H1354H4392H5869H5439H70219When the living creatures went, the wheels went; when the living creatures lifted off, the wheels lifted off.H2416H3212H212H3212H681H2416H5375H776H212H537520Wherever the spirit went, they went, the wheels sticking right with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.H7307H3212H3212H7307H3212H212H5375H5980H7307H2416H21221When the creatures went, the wheels went; when the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; when the creatures lifted off, the wheels lifted off, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.H3212H3212H5975H5975H5375H776H212H5375H5980H7307H2416H21222Over the heads of the living creatures was something like a dome, shimmering like a sky full of cut glass, vaulted over their heads.H1823H7549H7218H2416H5869H3372H7140H5186H7218H460523Under the dome one set of wings was extended toward the others, with another set of wings covering their bodies.H7549H3671H3477H802H269H376H8147H3680H2007H376H8147H3680H2007H147224When they moved I heard their wings—it was like the roar of a great waterfall, like the voice of The Strong God, like the noise of a battlefield. When they stopped, they folded their wings.H3212H8085H6963H3671H6963H7227H4325H6963H7706H6963H1999H6963H4264H5975H7503H367125And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads.H6963H7549H7218H5975H7503H367126Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne.H4605H7549H7218H1823H3678H4758H5601H68H1823H3678H1823H4758H120H460527From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere!H7200H5869H2830H4758H784H5439H1004H4758H4975H4605H4758H4975H4295H7200H4758H784H5051H543928The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that's what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of GOD! When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground. Then I heard a voice.H4758H7198H6051H3117H1653H4758H5051H5439H4758H1823H3519H3068H7200H5307H6440H8085H6963H1696