Ezekiel 1:4 - Forerunner Commentary

Ezekiel 1:4

2 On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,

3 the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and ^athe hand of the Lord was upon him there.

4 Then I looked, and behold, ^aa whirlwind was coming ^bout of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

5 ^aAlso from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And ^bthis was their appearance: they had ^cthe likeness of a man.

6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.

7 Their¹ legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled ^alike the color of burnished bronze.

8 ^aThe hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.

9 Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight ^aforward.

10 As for ^athe likeness of their faces, each ^bhad the face of a man; each of the four had ^cthe face of a lion on the right side, ^deach of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, ^eand each of the four had the face of an eagle.

11 Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and ^atwo covered their bodies.

12 And ^aeach one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, ^alike the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.

14 And the living creatures ran back and forth, ^ain appearance like a flash of lightning.

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, ^aa wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.

16 ^aThe appearance of the wheels and their workings was ^blike the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

17 When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.

18 As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were ^afull of eyes, all around the four of them.

19 ^aWhen the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, ^afor the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the¹ living creatures was in the wheels.

22 ^aThe likeness of the¹ firmament above the heads of the² living creatures was like the color of an awesome ^bcrystal, stretched out ^cover their heads.

23 And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body.

24 ^aWhen they went, I heard the noise of their wings, ^blike the noise of many waters, like ^cthe voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.

25 A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.

26 ^aAnd above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, ^bin appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above ^cit.

27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward ^aI saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.

28 ^aLike the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. ^bThis was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, ^cI fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

Verse Comparison: Ezekiel 1:4

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Ezekiel 1:5 >>

American Standard Version
And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire infolding itself, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst thereof as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.

Amplified® Bible
As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud with a fire enveloping it {and} flashing continually; a brightness was about it and out of the midst of it there seemed to glow amber metal, out of the midst of the fire.

Contemporary English Version
I saw a windstorm blowing in from the north. Lightning flashed from a huge cloud and lit up the whole sky with a dazzling brightness. The fiery center of the cloud was as shiny as polished metal,

Darby English Version
And I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the look of glowing brass, out of the midst of the fire.

Good News Bible
I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze.

King James Version
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

New American Standard Bible
As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.

New International Version
I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,

New King James Version
Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
As I looked, behold, a storm wind came from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.

Revised Standard Version
As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze.

Young's Literal Translation
And I look, and lo, a tempestuous wind is coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire catching itself, and brightness to it round about, and out of its midst as the colour of copper, out of the midst of the fire.

New English Translation
As I watched, I noticed¹ a windstorm² coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing,³ such that bright light⁴ rimmed it and came from⁵ it like glowing amber⁶ from the middle of a fire.

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