1. In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were 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 Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.
4. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.
5. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness,
6. but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
7. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.
8. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:
9. their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.
10. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.