God’s Presence Leaves the Temple

10 And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire,[fn] and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. 2 And he spoke[fn] to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim[fn] and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes. 3 Now[fn] the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple when the man went,[fn] and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub toward[fn] the threshold of the house,[fn] and the house[fn] was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as[fn] the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddai[fn] when he speaks.[fn]

6 And then at his command[fn] to the man clothed in linen, saying,[fn] “Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim,” he went and stood beside the wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from among[fn] the cherubim toward the fire that was among[fn] the cherubim, and he lifted up and gave[fn] it into the hollow of the hand of the man clothed with linen, and he took it, and he went out.

8 And there appeared for[fn] the cherubim the form of a human hand[fn] under their wings. 9 And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub,[fn] and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of turquoise stone.[fn] 10 Their appearance[fn] was the same for each of the four of them,[fn] as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went[fn] to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went,[fn] for the place to which the head[fn] turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. 12 And their whole body,[fn] and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels for the four of them.[fn] 13 Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.[fn] 14 And each one had four faces;[fn] the face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a human, and the face of the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creatures[fn] that I saw at the Kebar River.[fn] 16 And when the cherubim went,[fn] the wheels beside them went; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth,[fn] the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. 17 When they stood,[fn] they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 And the glory of Yahweh went out from[fn] the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels were[fn] beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple[fn] of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[fn]

20 This was[fn] the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the Kebar River,[fn] and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces,[fn] and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of human hands[fn] was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces, they were the faces that I saw at the Kebar River;[fn] thus was their appearance, and they each went straight ahead.[fn]