1. On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the River Chebar in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. (
2. It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.)
3. There in Babylonia beside the River Chebar, I heard the Lord speak to me and I felt his power.
4. I looked up and saw a storm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky round it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze.
5. At the centre of the storm, I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form,
6. but each of them had four faces and four wings.