Week 43, Day 1

The reading for today is Ezekiel 1-3; John 1.

Ezekiel 1

And it was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, and I was in the midst of the exiles by the Kebar River. The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of the king Jehoiachin— the word of Yahweh came clearly to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans at the Kebar River, and the hand of Yahweh was on him there.

And I looked, and look! A storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around and within it, and from its midst it was like the outward appearance of amber stone from the midst of the fire. And from its midst was the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance: a human form, and each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of the foot of a calf, and they were sparkling like the outward appearance of polished bronze. And under their wings were human hands on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them were as follows: their wings were touching one another; each of them went straight forward, without turning right or left. The likeness of their faces was the face of a human in front, and the face of a lion on the right of each of them, and the face of an ox on the left of each of them, and the face of an eagle for each of them. So were their faces; their wings were spread out upward; each had two touching one another and two covering their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit went they went, and they did not turn as they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It was moving to and fro between the living creatures, and the fire was very bright and lightning was going out from the fire. And the living creatures were speeding to and fro like the appearance of lightning.

And I saw the living creatures, and look! A wheel was on the earth beside each of the living creatures that had four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the appearance of beryl, and they all looked alike, and their appearance and their construction was like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not veer at all as they went. And their rims were high and awesome, and all four of their rims were full of eyes all around. And at the going of the living creatures, the wheels next to them also went, and when the creatures were lifted from the ground the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit went they would go there, and the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. At their going, they go, and at their standing, they stood, and at their being lifted up from on the earth, the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Now the likeness above the heads of the living creatures was an expanse like the outward appearance of awesome ice spread out above their heads upward. And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight one toward the other; each had two wings covering them, and each had two wings covering their bodies. And I heard the