1Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.1.1 captives: Heb. captivity 2In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, 3The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.1.3 Ezekiel: Heb. Jehezkel
4¶ 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.1.4 infolding…: Heb. catching itself 5Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 6And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.1.7 straight…: Heb. a straight foot 8And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. 9Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. 10As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. 11Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.1.11 stretched…: or, divided above 12And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. 13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15¶ Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. 16The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 17When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. 18As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.1.18 and their rings: or, and their strakes 19And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.1.20 of…: or, of life 21When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.1.21 of…: or, of life 22And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. 23And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. 24And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. 25And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
26¶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
ሕያዋኑ ፍጡራንና የእግዚአብሔር ክብር
1በሠላሳኛው ዓመት፣1፥1 ወይም ዓመቴ በአራተኛው ወር፣ በአምስተኛው ቀን፣ በኮቦር ወንዝ አጠገብ በምርኮኞች መካከል ሳለሁ፣ ሰማያት ተከፈቱ፤ እኔም የእግዚአብሔርን ራእይ አየሁ።
2ንጉሡ ዮአኪን በተማረከ በአምስተኛው ዓመት፣ በአምስተኛው ቀን፣ 3በባቢሎናውያን1፥3 ወይም በከለዳውያን ምድር በኮቦር ወንዝ አጠገብ፣ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ወደ ቡዝ ልጅ፣1፥3 ወይም ወደ ካህኑ ቡዝ ልጅ ወደ ሕዝቅኤል ወደ ካህኑ ወደ ሕዝቅኤል መጣ፤ በዚያ የእግዚአብሔር እጅ በእርሱ ላይ ነበረች።
4እኔም አየሁ፤ ስመለከትም፣ እነሆ ዐውሎ ነፋስ ከሰሜን በኩል መጣ፤ ይኸውም በታላቅ ብርሃን የተከበበ፣ መብረቅን የሚረጭ ታላቅ ደመና ነበረ፤ የእሳቱም መኻል የጋለ ብረት ይመስል ነበር። 5በእሳቱም ውስጥ የአራት ሕያዋን ፍጡራን አምሳያ ነበረ፤ መልካቸውም የሰው ቅርጽ ይመስል ነበር። 6እያንዳንዳቸውም አራት አራት ፊትና አራት አራት ክንፍ ነበራቸው። 7እግራቸው ቀጥ ያለ ነበር፤ ኰቴያቸውም እንደ ጥጃ ኰቴ ያለ ሲሆን፣ እንደ ተወለወለ ናስም ያብለጨልጭ ነበር። 8በአራቱ ጐኖቻቸው ባሉት ክንፎቻቸው ሥር የሰው እጅ ነበራቸው። አራቱም ፊቶችና ክንፎች ነበሯቸው፤ 9ክንፎቻቸውም እርስ በርስ ይነካኩ ነበር። እያንዳንዱም ቀጥ ብሎ ይሄድ ነበር፤ ወደ ኋላቸውም ዞር ብለው አይመለከቱም ነበር።
10ፊታቸውም እንዲህ ነበር፤ አራቱም እያንዳንዳቸው የሰው ፊት ነበራቸው፤ በቀኝ በኩል የአንበሳ ፊት፣ በግራ በኩልም የበሬ ፊት ነበራቸው፤ እያንዳንዳቸውም ደግሞ የንስር ፊት ነበራቸው። 11እንግዲህ ፊታቸው ይህን ይመስል ነበር፤ ክንፋቸውም ወደ ላይ ተዘርግቶ ነበር፤ እያንዳንዳቸው ሁለት ሁለት ክንፍ ነበራቸው፤ የእያንዳንዱም ክንፍ የሌላውን ክንፍ ይነካ ነበር፤ ሁለቱ ክንፎቻቸው ሰውነታቸውን ይሸፍኑ ነበር። 12እያንዳንዱ ቀጥ ብሎ ወደ ፊት ይሄድ ነበር፤ ወደ ኋላም ሳይዞር መንፈስ ወደሚሄድበት ሁሉ ይሄድ ነበር። 13የሕያዋን ፍጡራኑ መልክም እንደሚነድ የከሰል ፍምና የተቀጣጠለ ችቦ ይመስል ነበር፤ በፍጡራኑ መካከል እሳት ወዲያ ወዲህ ይንቀሳቀስ ነበር፤ ብርሃኑም ደማቅ ነበር፤ ከእሳቱም ውስጥ መብረቅ ይወጣ ነበር። 14ፍጡራኑም እንደ መብረቅ ብልጭታ ፍጥነት ወዲያ ወዲህ ይወረወሩ ነበር።
15ሕያዋን ፍጡራኑን ስመለከታቸው፣ አራት ፊቶች ባሉት በእያንዳንዱ ፍጡር አጠገብ አንዳንድ መንኰራኵር በምድር ላይ አየሁ። 16የመንኰራኵሮቹ መልክና አሠራር እንዲህ ነበር፤ እንደ ቢረሌ ያንጸባርቁ ነበር፤ የአራቱም ቅርጽ ተመሳሳይ ሆኖ፤ እያንዳንዱ መንኰራኵር በመንኰራኵር ውስጥ ተሰክቶ የተሠራ ይመስል ነበር። 17በሚሄዱበት ጊዜም፣ ፍጡራኑ ወደሚዞሩበት ወደ አራቱ አቅጣጫ ሁሉ መንቀሳቀስ ይችሉ ነበር፤ ፍጡራኑ በሚሄዱበትም ጊዜ መንኰራኵሮቹ ወዲያና ወዲህ1፥17 ወይም ወደ ሌላ አይሉም ነበር። 18የመንኰራኵሮቹ ክብ ጠርዝ ረዥምና አስፈሪ ነበር፤ የአራቱም መንኰራኵሮች ክብ ጠርዝ ዙሪያውን በዐይኖች የተሞላ ነበር።
19ሕያዋኑ ፍጡራን ሲንቀሳቀሱ፣ በአጠገባቸው ያሉ መንኰራኵሮችም ይንቀሳቀሱ ነበር፤ ሕያዋኑ ፍጡራን ከምድር ከፍ ከፍ ሲሉ፣ መንኰራኵሮቹም አብረዋቸው ከፍ ከፍ ይሉ ነበር። 20መንፈስ ወደሚሄድበት ሁሉ ይሄዳሉ፤ የሕያዋኑ ፍጡራን መንፈስ በውስጣቸው ስላለ መንኰራኵሮቹ አብረዋቸው ይነሣሉ፤ 21ፍጡራኑ ሲንቀሳቀሱ ይንቀሳቀሳሉ፤ ፍጡራኑ ቀጥ ብለው ሲቆሙ እነርሱም ይቆማሉ፤ ፍጡራኑ ከምድር ከፍ ከፍ ሲሉ፣ የሕያዋኑ ፍጡራን መንፈስ በውስጣቸው ስላለ መንኰራኵሮቹ አብረዋቸው ይነሣሉ።
22ከሕያዋኑ ፍጡራን ራስ በላይ የሚያስፈራና፤ እንደ በረዶ የሚያንጸባርቅ ጠፈር የሚመስል ነገር ነበር። 23ከጠፈሩም በታች የአንዱ ክንፍ ወደ ሌላው ተዘርግቶ ነበር፤ እያንዳንዱም ሰውነቱን የሚሸፍንበት ሁለት ክንፍ ነበረው። 24ፍጡራኑ በሚንቀሳቀሱበት ጊዜ የክንፎቻቸውን ድምፅ ሰማሁ፤ ድምፁም እንደሚጐርፍ ውሃ ጩኸት፣ ሁሉን እንደሚችል1፥24 በዕብራይስጡ ሻዳይ ይላል አምላክ ድምፅና እንደ ሰራዊት ውካታ ነበር። መንቀሳቀሳቸውን ሲያቆሙም ክንፎቻቸውን ዝቅ ያደርጉ ነበር።
25መንቀሳቀሳቸውን አቁመው ክንፎቻቸውን ዝቅ እንዳደረጉ፣ ከራሳቸው በላይ ካለው ጠፈር ድምፅ ተሰማ። 26ከራሳቸው በላይ ካለው ጠፈር ከፍ ብሎ የሰንፔር1፥26 ወይም ላፒስ ላዙሊ ዙፋን የሚመስል ነገር ነበር፤ በዙፋኑም ላይ የሰው መልክ የሚመስል ነበር። 27ወገቡ ከሚመስለው ጀምሮ ወደ ላይ በእሳት መካከል እንዳለ የጋለ ብረት፣ ከወገቡም በታች እሳት ይመስል እንደ ነበር አየሁ፤ ደማቅ ብርሃንም በዙሪያው ነበር። 28በዝናብ ቀን በደመና ውስጥ እንደሚታየው ቀስተ ደመና በዙሪያው ያለው ጸዳል እንዲሁ ነበር።
ይህም የእግዚአብሔር ክብር መልክ አምሳያ ነበረ። ባየሁትም ጊዜ በግንባሬ ተደፋሁ፤ የአንድ ተናጋሪን ድምፅ ሰማሁ።
