1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, ^zeach with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of ^athe upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was ^ba man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside ^cthe bronze altar.

3 Now ^dthe glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to ^ethe threshold of the house. And he called to ^bthe man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and ^fput a mark on the foreheads of the men who ^gsigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to ^hthe others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. ⁱYour eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 ^jKill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but ^ktouch no one on whom is the mark. And ^lbegin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. 7 Then he said to them, ^m“Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. 8 And while they were striking, and I was left alone, ⁿI fell upon my face, and cried, ^o“Ah, Lord God! ^pWill you destroy all the remnant of Israel ^qin the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

9 Then he said to me, ^r“The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. ^sThe land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For ^tthey say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ 10 As for me, ^umy eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; ^vI will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

11 And behold, ^wthe man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”

1 Then I looked, and behold, ^xon the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ^ylike a sapphire,¹ in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to ^zthe man clothed in linen, “Go in among ^athe whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with ^bburning coals from between the cherubim, and ^cscatter them over the city.”

And he went in ^dbefore my eyes. 3 Now the cherubim were standing ^eon the south side of the house, when the man went in, and ^fa cloud filled ^gthe inner court. 4 And ^hthe glory of the Lord ⁱwent up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house ^fwas filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with ^jthe brightness of the glory of the Lord. 5 And ^kthe sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, ^klike the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

6 And when he commanded ^lthe man clothed in linen, ^m“Take fire from between ⁿthe whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have ^othe form of a human hand under their wings.

9 ^pAnd I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and ^qthe appearance of the wheels was ^rlike sparkling ^sberyl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 ^tWhen they went, they went in any of their four directions^{2 u}without turning as they went, ^vbut in whatever direction the front wheel³ faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 ^wAnd their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,⁴ and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing ⁿ“the whirling wheels.” 14 ^xAnd every one had four faces: ^ythe first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was ^za human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 ^aAnd the cherubim mounted up. These were ^bthe living creatures that I saw by ^cthe Chebar canal. 16 ^dAnd when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And ^dwhen the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 ^eWhen they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures⁵ was in them.

18 ^fThen ^gthe glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 ^hAnd the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ⁱbefore my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the ^jeast gate of the house of the Lord, and ^kthe glory of the God of Israel was over them.

20 ^lThese were the living creatures that I saw ^munderneath the God of Israel by ⁿthe Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 ^oEach had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings ^pthe likeness of human hands. 22 ^qAnd as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. ^rEach one of them went straight forward.