Visions of Kedushah

(1) In the year that King Uzziah died, I beheld my Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of His robe filled the Temple. (2) Seraphs stood in attendance on Him. Each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly. (3) And one would call to the other, “Holy, holy, holy! The LORD of Hosts! His presence fills all the earth!” (4) The doorposts would shake at the sound of the one who called, and the House kept filling with smoke. (5) I cried, “Woe is me; I am lost! For I am a man of unclean lips And I live among a people Of unclean lips; Yet my own eyes have beheld The King LORD of Hosts.” (6) Then one of the seraphs flew over to me with a live coal, which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. (7) He touched it to my lips and declared, “Now that this has touched your lips, Your guilt shall depart And your sin be purged away.” (8) Then I heard the voice of my Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me.” (9) And He said, “Go, say to that people: ‘Hear, indeed, but do not understand; See, indeed, but do not grasp.’ (10) Dull that people’s mind, Stop its ears, And seal its eyes— Lest, seeing with its eyes And hearing with its ears, It also grasp with its mind, And repent and save itself.” (11) I asked, “How long, my Lord?” And He replied: “Till towns lie waste without inhabitants And houses without people, And the ground lies waste and desolate— (12) For the LORD will banish the population— And deserted sites are many In the midst of the land. (13) “But while a tenth part yet remains in it, it shall repent. It shall be ravaged like the terebinth and the oak, of which stumps are left even when they are felled: its stump shall be a holy seed.”

(1) In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, when I was in the community of exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God. (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 son of Buzi, by the Chebar Canal, in the land of the Chaldeans. And the hand of the LORD came upon him there. (4) I looked, and lo, a stormy wind came sweeping out of the north—a huge cloud and flashing fire, surrounded by a radiance; and in the center of it, in the center of the fire, a gleam as of amber. (5) In the center of it were also the figures of four creatures. And this was their appearance: They had the figures of human beings. (6) However, each had four faces, and each of them had four wings; (7) the legs of each were [fused into] a single rigid leg, and the feet of each were like a single calf’s hoof; and their sparkle was like the luster of burnished bronze. (8) They had human hands below their wings. The four of them had their faces and their wings on their four sides. (9) Each one’s wings touched those of the other. They did not turn when they moved; each could move in the direction of any of its faces. (10) Each of them had a human face [at the front]; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right; each of the four had the face of an ox on the left; and each of the four had the face of an eagle [at the back]. (11) Such were their faces. As for their wings, they were separated: above, each had two touching those of the others, while the other two covered its body. (12) And each could move in the direction of any of its faces; they went wherever the spirit impelled them to go, without turning when they moved. (13) Such then was the appearance of the creatures. With them was something that looked like burning coals of fire. This fire, suggestive of torches, kept moving about among the creatures; the fire had a radiance, and lightning issued from the fire. (14) Dashing to and fro [among] the creatures was something that looked like flares. (15) As I gazed on the creatures, I saw one wheel on the ground next to each of the four-faced creatures. (16) As for the appearance and structure of the wheels, they gleamed like beryl. All four had the same form; the appearance and structure of each was as of two wheels cutting through each other. (17) And when they moved, each could move in the direction of any of its four quarters; they did not veer when they moved. (18) Their rims were tall and frightening, for the rims of all four were covered all over with eyes. (19) And when the creatures moved forward, the wheels moved at their sides; and when the creatures were borne above the earth, the wheels were borne too. (20) Wherever the spirit impelled them to go, they went—wherever the spirit impelled them—and the wheels were borne alongside them; for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. (21) When those moved, these moved; and when those stood still, these stood still; and when those were borne above the earth, the wheels were borne alongside them—for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. (22) Above the heads of the creatures was a form: an expanse, with an awe-inspiring gleam as of crystal, was spread out above their heads. (23) Under the expanse, each had one pair of wings extended toward those of the others; and each had another pair covering its body. (24) When they moved, I could hear the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the sound of Shaddai, a tumult like the din of an army. When they stood still, they would let their wings droop. (25) From above the expanse over their heads came a sound. When they stood still, they would let their wings droop. (26) Above the expanse over their heads was the semblance of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and on top, upon this semblance of a throne, there was the semblance of a human form. (27) From what appeared as his loins up, I saw a gleam as of amber—what looked like a fire encased in a frame; and from what appeared as his loins down, I saw what looked like fire. There was a radiance all about him. (28) Like the appearance of the bow which shines in the clouds on a day of rain, such was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. That was the appearance of the semblance of the Presence of the LORD. When I beheld it, I flung myself down on my face. And I heard the voice of someone speaking.

(1) And He said to me, “O mortal, stand up on your feet that I may speak to you.” (2) As He spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard what was being spoken to me. (3) He said to me, “O mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, that nation of rebels, who have rebelled against Me.—They as well as their fathers have defied Me to this very day; (4) for the sons are brazen of face and stubborn of heart. I send you to them, and you shall say to them: ‘Thus said the Lord GOD’— (5) whether they listen or not, for they are a rebellious breed—that they may know that there was a prophet among them. (6) “And you, mortal, do not fear them and do not fear their words, though thistles and thorns press against you, and you sit upon scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words and do not be dismayed by them, though they are a rebellious breed; (7) but speak My words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. (8) “And you, mortal, heed what I say to you: Do not be rebellious like that rebellious breed. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” (9) As I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, holding a written scroll. (10) He unrolled it before me, and it was inscribed on both the front and the back; on it were written lamentations, dirges, and woes.

(1) He said to me, “Mortal, eat what is offered you; eat this scroll, and go speak to the House of Israel.” (2) So I opened my mouth, and He gave me this scroll to eat, (3) as He said to me, “Mortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me. (4) Then He said to me, “Mortal, go to the House of Israel and repeat My very words to them. (5) For you are sent, not to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the House of Israel— (6) not to the many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose talk you cannot understand. If I sent you to them, they would listen to you. (7) But the House of Israel will refuse to listen to you, for they refuse to listen to Me; for the whole House of Israel are brazen of forehead and stubborn of heart. (8) But I will make your face as hard as theirs, and your forehead as brazen as theirs. (9) I will make your forehead like adamant, harder than flint. Do not fear them, and do not be dismayed by them, though they are a rebellious breed.” (10) Then He said to me: “Mortal, listen with your ears and receive into your mind all the words that I speak to you. (11) Go to your people, the exile community, and speak to them. Say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD—whether they listen or not.” (12) Then a spirit carried me away, and behind me I heard a great roaring sound: “Blessed is the Presence of the LORD, in His place,” (13) with the sound of the wings of the creatures beating against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them—a great roaring sound. (14) A spirit seized me and carried me away. I went in bitterness, in the fury of my spirit, while the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. (15) And I came to the exile community that dwelt in Tel Abib by the Chebar Canal, and I remained where they dwelt. And for seven days I sat there stunned among them. (16) After those seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: (17) “O mortal, I appoint you watchman for the House of Israel; and when you hear a word from My mouth, you must warn them for Me. (18) If I say to a wicked man, ‘You shall die,’ and you do not warn him—you do not speak to warn the wicked man of his wicked course in order to save his life—he, the wicked man, shall die for his iniquity, but I will require a reckoning for his blood from you. (19) But if you do warn the wicked man, and he does not turn back from his wickedness and his wicked course, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your own life. (20) Again, if a righteous man abandons his righteousness and does wrong, when I put a stumbling block before him, he shall die. He shall die for his sins; the righteous deeds that he did shall not be remembered; but because you did not warn him, I will require a reckoning for his blood from you. (21) If, however, you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he, the righteous, does not sin, he shall live because he took warning, and you will have saved your own life.”

(22) Then the hand of the LORD came upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.” (23) I arose and went out to the valley, and there stood the Presence of the LORD, like the Presence that I had seen at the Chebar Canal; and I flung myself down on my face. (24) And a spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet. And He spoke to me, and said to me: “Go, shut yourself up in your house. (25) As for you, O mortal, cords have been placed upon you, and you have been bound with them, and you shall not go out among them. (26) And I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you shall be dumb; you shall not be a reprover to them, for they are a rebellious breed. (27) But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD!’ He who listens will listen, and he who does not will not—for they are a rebellious breed.”