Ezekiel 10

Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

1Then I looked up. High above the heads of the cherubim, I saw something. Cherubim are winged beings that serve God. The shape looked like a king's chair. It shone like a blue stone called sapphire.

NoteThe KJV says "firmament." That means the wide open space overhead, above the cherubim.

2And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

2God spoke to the man dressed in linen cloth. He said, "Go in between the wheels, under the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim. Then scatter them over the city." I watched the man go in.

3Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

3When the man went in, the cherubim stood on the south side of the temple. The temple was God's house. A cloud filled the inner yard.

NoteThe KJV says the cherubim stood on the "right side" of the house. In Hebrew, directions are given while facing east, so the right side is the south side.

4Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory.

4Then the bright glory of the LORD rose up from above the cherubim. It moved and stood over the doorway of the temple. The cloud filled the house. The bright light of God's glory filled the yard.

5And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.

5The sound of the cherubim's wings reached all the way to the outer yard. It sounded like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

6And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.

6The LORD told the man in linen, "Take fire from the wheels, from among the cherubim." So the man went in and stood beside a wheel.

7And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.

7One cherub reached out his hand toward the fire among them. He took some of the fire. He put it into the hands of the man in linen. The man took it and went out.

8And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

8Under the wings of the cherubim, I could see shapes like human hands.

9And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.

9Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim. One wheel stood next to each cherub. The wheels shone like a stone called beryl.

10And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.

10All four wheels looked the same. Each one looked like a wheel inside another wheel.

11When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.

11When they moved, they could go any of four ways. They did not turn as they went. They went the way the head was facing. They did not turn as they went.

12And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

12Their whole bodies were covered with eyes. Their backs, their hands, and their wings all had eyes. Their four wheels were full of eyes too.

13As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.

13I heard someone call the wheels "the whirling wheels."

NoteThe KJV says the wheels were called "O wheel." The Hebrew word means something like whirling or spinning, so the wheels were being called the whirling wheels.

14And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

14Each one had four faces. The first face was a cherub's face. The second was a man's face. The third was a lion's face. The fourth was an eagle's face.

15And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.

15Then the cherubim rose up into the air. These were the same living creatures I saw by the Chebar River.

16And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.

16When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them. When they lifted their wings to leave the ground, the wheels stayed right beside them.

17When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

17When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still. When the cherubim rose up, the wheels rose up too. The spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

18Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.

18Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the temple doorway. It stopped above the cherubim.

19And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

19I watched the cherubim lift their wings and rise up from the ground. The wheels went along beside them. They stopped at the east gate of the LORD's house. The glory of the God of Israel was above them.

20This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

20These were the living creatures I saw under the God of Israel by the Chebar River. Now I knew that they were cherubim.

21Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

21Each one had four faces and four wings. Under their wings were shapes like human hands.

22And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.

22Their faces looked just like the faces I saw by the Chebar River. Each one went straight ahead.