Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads
of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a
sapphire, in appearance like a throne. And he said to the man
clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the
cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the
cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”
And he went in before my eyes. Now the cherubim were standing on
the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud
filled the inner court. And the glory of the LORD went up from the
cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with
the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the
glory of the LORD. And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was
heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty
when he speaks.
And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from
between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in
and stood beside a wheel. 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. The cherubim appeared to have the
form of a human hand under their wings.
And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the
cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels
was like sparkling beryl. And as for their appearance, the four had
the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. When they
went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as
they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the
others followed without turning as they went. And their whole body,
their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full
of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. As for the
wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.” And
every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the
cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the
face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that
I saw by the Chebar canal. And when the cherubim went, the wheels
went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to
mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them.
When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up,
these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures
was in them.
Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the
house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up
their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they
went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the
entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory
of the God of Israel was over them.
These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of
Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim.
Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their
wings the likeness of human hands. And as for the likeness of their
faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the
Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.
