³ The word of the Eternal One came to Ezekiel the priest (Buzi’s son) near the Chebar Canal in the land of the Chaldeans. It was there that the hand of the Eternal settled on him.

⁴ I looked up, and I saw a ferocious and stormy wind coming from the north—a monstrous cloud filled with the constant dance of lightning, surrounded by a glowing, all-encompassing light. At the center of the lightning flashes was something that looked like gleaming metal, ⁵ and within that otherworldly scene were what looked like four living creatures. The creatures had a form that resembled humans, ⁶ but they each had four faces and four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight like the pillars of a temple, and their feet looked like the hoofs of a calf and shimmered in the firelight like polished bronze. ⁸ They had human hands on all four sides under each wing. All four of these living creatures had faces and wings, ⁹ and their wings touched one another. As they moved, they did not turn to the right or left; they all went straight ahead. ¹⁰ Each of the four creatures had four faces: a human face in front, the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle in the back. ¹¹ The features of their faces were similar. Two of the creatures’ wings stretched upward, and one wing on each side of each creature was touching the wing of the creature on either side of it. The other two wings covered each creature’s body. ¹² All of the living creatures went straight ahead wherever the spirit directed them; the creatures moved without turning to the right or left. ¹³ The living creatures had an appearance of something that looked like burning charcoal. Untamed ribbons of fire darted back and forth among them. It was all very bright, and lightning bolted out of the glowing fire. ¹⁴ The living creatures ran back and forth like flashes of lightning.